GETTING LOST IN THE PAST

(November 14, 2015) After leaving Kensico Cemetery, I drove over to Ferncliff Cemetery, which is a very large cemetery and even with a map that I downloaded on line it was extremely difficult to locate any of the graves that I was looking for.  So I decided to confine my search to the mausoleums.

My first stop upon entering the cemetery at the entrance on Secor Road, was the Rosewood Mausoleum. This is an extremely large building and I knew it was gong to difficult to find anything here.  The different alcoves, and hallways were marked and surprisingly after just a few minutes I was able to find the tomb of Cab Calloway.

CAB CALLOWAY was born on Christmas Day 1904 in Rochester, New York and for over 7-decades was a popular Big Band leaders who popular the energetic scat style of singing. In 1931 he recorded his most popular hit called "Minnie the Moocher." He continued to perform right up until 1994 when he suffered a stroke.  Cab Calloway died on November 18, 1994 and his ashes are interred here in the Rosewood Mausoleum.

From Rosewood, I drove around the corner to the Ferncliff Mausoleum. Upon entering it was obvious that I wasn't going to be able to find anything.  This is an enormous building and is not marked any anyway that I could see.  So I took a chance that that the office would be helpful in finding the people I am looking for.

It was late in the afternoon and the ladies in the office were not all that interested in helping me. I was about ready to give up when a worker ask me who I was looking for.  I told him that if he could just point me in the right direction I would try and find them myself, to which he laughed and said "You will never be able to find your way through the maze of hallway."

This guy knew his way around every nook and cranny of the building and quickly lead me to the tombs of Judy Garland, Ed Sullivan and Joan Crawford. Judy Garland is resting in one end of the building while Ed Sullivan and Joan Crawford are at other end.  The guy was right that I would never be able to find my way around.

JUDY GARLAND was born on June 10, 1922 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Early in her career she performed in vaudeville before starring in he most iconic role as Dorothy Gale in the the 9139 classic "The Wizard of Oz," On June 22, 1969, Judy Garland was found dead due to a drug overdose in her London Apartment.  On  June 26 more the 20,000 people lined up to pay their respects at the Frank Campbell Funeral Home which stayed open all night to accommodate the masses.

Completely on the other end of the mausoleum are the tombs of Ed Sullivan and Joan Crawford.

ED SULLIVAN was born on September 28, 1901 in Harlem, New York.  He began his career as a reporter for the New York Daily News but he is best remembered as the host of a TV variety show that was originally known as "The Toast of the Town," which eventually became "The Ed Sullivan Show."  The show became one of the longest running TV shows in history, as it was broadcast for 23-years from 1948-1971. In 1974 he was diagnosed with cancer and died on October 13, 1974.  His funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral was attended by 3,000 people.

JOAN CRAWFORD is entombed just around the corner from Ed Sullivan. She became one of Hollywood's most recognizable and prominent movie stars.  He most famous role was "Mildred Pierce," in 1945. She married her 4th husband Alfred Steele  in 1955 when he was n executive with the Pepsi Cola Company but he died of a heart attack in 1955. Joan Crawford died on May 10, 1977 and is entombed next to her 4th Husband Alfred Steele.

After finishing with the graves that the Ferncliff employee helped me with I decided to explore and see if I could find some of the other famous people that are entombed here.  This turned out to be a mistake as I got so turned around that I could not find my way back to the exit.  For the next 45-minutes I wandered around trying to primarily to find an exit. Finally I came upon another employee and had to humble myself and ask for directions to the exit. Even after getting directions it took me another 10-minutes to make it out of this enormous building.

It was close to 4:30 before I made it out of the Mausoleum and back to the car for the short drive over to Sleep Hollow, which would be my final stop of the day.