![]() ![]() But in this case involving a man so well known as Mr. "I wouldn't like to see this order become a precedent. But a 25-year old widow and one of the preeminent architects in the country were about to change all that. It seemed Hillside would continue to grow quietly and unostentatiously. 1 In 1949, Harry was named vice president of the Jewish Funeral Directors of America. The brothers continued their ascent in Los Angeles society, endorsing candidates who displayed "fair mindedness to all groups and creeds," raising money for Cedars Sinai with Jimmy Durante at the Biltmore, and going on fishing trips with the mayor. Hillside quickly became a popular burial spot for entertainment industry executives. Most of those interred at Hillside were also prepared for burial by Groman Mortuary. The early years at Hillside were peaceful and profitable. Lazare was no longer a director (though he is buried at Hillside). Harry was listed as president, with Robert as secretary. In July, 1943, after a 14-month fight, the cemetery, now called Hillside Memorial Park, was given a permit to operate. However, plans were stalled when the Board of Supervisors initially rejected their request for a permit, due to the objections of the Inglewood Chamber of Commerce. They bought 35 acres of rolling hills in an undeveloped area near Inglewood. Harry, Robert, and lawyer Bernard Lazare were its directors. On May 23, 1941, B'nai B'rith Memorial Park was incorporated as a for profit venture. More and more Jewish families were moving to Westside enclaves like Beverly Hills and Pacific Palisades. Beth Olam in Hollywood, where many early movie moguls lay, was also getting crowded. The old Jewish burial grounds in Boyle Heights were filling up and had gone out of style. ![]() In 1936, four years after their father Charles died, they opened Groman Mortuaries together.īy the early '40s, there was a need for a new Jewish cemetery in Los Angeles. The brothers were involved in many civic, religious and business ventures. Harry graduated from law school and soon became an investigator with the District Attorney's office, working for a time in the office of the legendarily corrupt Asa Keyes. (Many were afraid to do so during the epidemic.) When it ended, the Society became the Home for Jewish Incurables, which ultimately became Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.Ĭharles' sons Harry and Robert grew up in the heart of Los Angeles, and attended high school in downtown L.A. It is fitting because scores of the women and men who created this busy city, who built the movie studios, the hospitals, the charities, the schools, and the industries that make Los Angeles great, are buried in these gently sloping hills.ĭuring the 1918-19 flu epidemic, Groman along with established the Bikur Cholim Society to visit the sick. It seems fitting that no matter how deep you walk into the grounds, you can never quite escape the sights and sounds of the surrounding city. Everything feels familiar everything feels like Los Angeles. Outside, under the bright blue sky, we walk along paths featuring sleek family pavilions, and four fascinating bas relief sculptures by Mary Ann Devine, representing Bible passages with special meaning to the Jewish people. Large stained glass windows, featuring scenes from nature or abstract shapes, filter in colored light. The walls are lined with urns containing the ashes of departed loved ones, with cheerful and poignant family snapshots and mementoes placed next to the urns. In the chic Paul Williams-designed main mausoleum, there are deep couches and perfectly polished stone walls that remind me of the old department stores and cafeterias my grandmother took me to in my youth. Complimentary water bottles, with the "Hillside Memorial" logo, have been placed on a tray for mourners attending an upcoming service. In all my visits to the graveyards of Los Angeles, I have never seen a more comfortable or well-maintained cemetery than Hillside Memorial. The noise of cars is ever present, but if you pause, you can hear the sound of water pouring from the Jolson Memorial's lovely 120-ft waterfall into a shimmering reflecting pool below. But encircling the perimeters of this sophisticated oasis are office towers, malls, apartment buildings and the throbbing 405 freeway. The park is lush and ordered, with perfectly maintained green lawns, elegant mid-century modern mausoleums, and solemn shrines. Nowhere is this more evident than when you are standing atop the spectacular Al Jolson Memorial in the bubble of peace that is Hillside Memorial Park. If New York is the city that never sleeps, then Los Angeles is the city that never stops. ![]()
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