52 Ancestors: At the Cemetery

I find cemeteries so interesting - behind/beneath every stone is a story.  I could spend hours sitting at my computer looking through death and cemetery records and love matching people with their loved ones.  Just when you think you've solved one mystery, another challenge stands before you.

This weeks' prompt is At the Cemetery.  I can't say that I've BEEN to a lot of cemeteries but I can say that I've virtually been to quite a few.  Last year I wrote about some very special cemeteries in my family history HERE.  

Another cemetery that is very special to me is Chapel of the Light Columbarium in Fresno.  

From www.chapelofthelight.com:  "On July 1, 1914, the Fresno crematory was opened.  The crematory consisted of two cremation chambers, a chapel, and a columbarium.  The property is located on Belmont Avenue, west of Roeding Park, and north of the Mountain View Cemetery, which was established in 1888.

Originally behind the crematory, there was a streetcar track that ran through Roeding Park and dead-ended at the crematory.

There was also a self-made airport on the balance of the property.  Local aviators who flew bi-planes for their own pleasure established the airport."

The first time I visited the Columbarium was after my grandfather, Sig Levy, died in 1968.  I remember hearing the story that since he always wanted to sit on the aisle of a theater due to his short stature, he picked an aisle niche in the Columbarium.  And then I visited again in 1982 after my grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy, died.

I had no idea that almost all of my Levy "kin" are interred in the Columbarium.  Sig's parents, Herman and Goldie (Benas) Levy, his brothers and their wives (Herb/Madeline, Leon/Elizabeth, Ben/Leah), some of their children, and even Sig and Loraine's oldest son, Robert Levy (1920-2004).

Chapel of the Light states "One of our most unusual urns is a replica of a home on Van Ness Blvd.  Mr. and Mrs. Ben Levy were in the process of building a home in what is now known as Fig Garden on Van Ness Blvd. and the home was close to completion when Mrs. Levy took a trip to Texas to visit her sister.  Mrs. Levy was in an automobile accident and was killed.  Mr. Levy came to the chapel and made arrangements for her niche."

In Ben Levy's autobiography, he gave a different account:

"In 1939, we went to the New York World's Fair and on our return, we had an automobile accident just out of Winnemuca, Nevada.  My wife was fatally injured in this accident.  My wife and I were both thrown out of our car, but my wife paid with her life."

What's interesting is that my in laws both graduated from Humbolt County High School in Winnemucca, I believe in 1939.  I wonder if they knew anything of the accident but, of course, there is no one left to ask.

At some point, I'm planning to get to Fresno to visit with some long-lost cousins, see the old yet familiar sites, and take a visit to Chapel of the Light to walk the halls.