52 Ancestors: Cemetery

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Every Memorial Day weekend I would make a trip with my paternal Grandma to the cemetery where my grandpa and her parents were buried. We would leave flowers (always pansies for my great-grandma Myrtle). I have been there so many times I know exactly where the cemetery is, and where they are buried. I could probably find the cemetery where my maternal grandparents are buried in Washington, and I know they are in the mausoleum.

Cemetery visits were always common for our family when on vacation, so when my mom and I went to San Diego three years ago we spent a few hours with my mom’s cousin visiting cemetery’s. We had visited a couple of the sites when I was a kid, but the pictures I had were dark and I had a hard time reading the information on the gravestones.

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A better shot of my great-great-grandparents headstone in Mount Hope Cemetery, my main cemetery goal when visiting San Diego. (And I do have one sans flowers, since they block Herman’s month of death.)

On our trip we did some genealogy, so I had a notepad and a file to make notes and keep everything together. There was only one cemetery where I had to look up a location, because my mom’s cousin was able to lead us to the rest.

I am a visual person, so not only did I take direct shots of the headstones, but I also took photos of identifying information, like a tree or building nearby, so I would have a reference point.

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A larger monument in the background of my great-grandparents gravesite.
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The headstone of my great-grandparents, buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego.

Sometimes the gravesites didn’t have a notable landmark nearby, but I took distance shots. One such instance was at the grave of my great-grandma’s sister, at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. The cemetery was split, so only one side overlooked the ocean, so I got that in the background.

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The gravesite of Pauline Borchert Coombs, which overlooks the Pacific.

Visiting cemeteries may not be fun for everyone, but they can be a wealth of information!

If you are interested, you can find the rest of my 52 Ancestors posts my clicking the tag at the top of the post.

Until next time,

Meredith