Utahns will be visiting cemeteries to remember and honor deceased relatives and friends this weekend. And with a high interest in genealogy in Utah, its residents may be among the most active nationally in going to gravesites.
A special memorial will be held Monday for 32 pioneers buried in the cemetery at This Is the Place Heritage Park, just north of Hogle Zoo on Sunnyside Avenue. Ceremonies will be held at 12:30 p.m. and repeated at 1:30, 3 and 4 p.m.
The bodies of these 32 pioneers were uncovered during a 1986 excavation for a 300-unit apartment complex on Block 49 in Salt Lake City. They were reburied at the park in 1987. Those bringing flowers to honor the pioneers can gain half-price admission to This Is the Place Heritage Park.
But where are Utah's most famous residents buried? History books often tell when an important person died but not always the location of his grave.
One of the best references is "Find A Grave" on the Internet. The site was created by Salt Lake resident Jim Tipton in 1995. It's where you can find the gravesites of many Utah VIPs quickly and easily, as well as those of many other important persons worldwide.
Tipton's hobby has evolved into a Web site that has more than 4.3 million burial records. More than 25,000 people a day search the site. There also are forums and an on-line cemetery walk that includes a random stroll through the selected site.
Searches for entertainers, such as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, are among the most popular uses of the site.
It's no surprise that the Salt Lake City Cemetery is the state's largest (250 acres) and oldest. The first burial was 1847 — the daughter of the sexton, a child who had been born in Winter Quarters. The largest number of prominent Utah residents are interred there.
Take the 14 former presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ten are buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Set aside about an hour for a walking or driving tour, and you can find all 10 graves.
Those missing from the Salt Lake cemetery are Joseph Smith, who was laid to rest in Nauvoo, Ill.; Brigham Young, who was buried at his private cemetery in downtown Salt Lake City; Lorenzo Snow, who was buried in Brigham City; and Ezra Taft Benson, who was buried in southeastern Idaho.
Presidents John Taylor and Heber J. Grant have stately monuments marking their graves, each one about 25 feet high. Markers for others such as Presidents Harold B. Lee and Wilford Woodruff are much smaller.
Also buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery are many other LDS general authorities. For example, the gravestone of Elder Richard L. Evans, an apostle, contains perhaps the most appropriate epitaph of all — "May peace be with you. This day . . . and always." That comment always concluded his narrations of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's "Spoken Word" broadcasts.
A little disappointing is the monument of J. Golden Kimball, a colorful LDS apostle. His contains no epitaph or comments, although the stories about him and his pithy remarks are legend.
Another monument, an 8-foot-tall pyramidlike structure for Orrin Porter Rockwell, legendary Utah lawman, contains the epitaph: "He was brave & loyal to his faith. True to the Prophet Jos. Smith. A promise made him by the prophet, thru obedience it was fulfilled." The promise was that if Rockwell never cut his hair, he would not die violently.
Jedediah Grant, first mayor of Salt Lake City and counselor to Brigham Young, is also buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, as is former U.S. Sen. Frank E. Moss, to name a few.
The claim to fame of the Clarkston Cemetery in Cache County is the grave of Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon.
Kaysville Cemetery boasts former Utah governor Henry H. Blood; Provo Cemetery has TV inventor Philo T. Farnsworth; and Parowan has former Utah Gov. Scott M. Matheson.
Besides www.findagrave.com, the state of Utah has a Web site database that is also useful: webapps.dced.state.ut.us/burials/execute/searchcemetery. For more information on This Is the Place Heritage Park, go online to www.thisistheplace.org, or call 582-1847.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com