Soldier's remains will stay at Ventura's Cemetery Park

The remains of a decorated war hero are staying put at Ventura's Cemetery Memorial Park. At least until a court orders otherwise.

The Ventura City Council on Monday overwhelmingly rejected a request to exhume the remains of Medal of Honor recipient Pvt. James Sumner, saying the British-born veteran is integral to Ventura’s history and should remain as the city works to better recognize an estimated 3,000 people buried at the hillside cemetery-turned-city park.

"He is an important part of our community," Councilman Carl Morehouse said.

Read more: Soldier's remains will stay at Ventura's Cemetery Park, council says » Ventura County Star

Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal

Upcoming Event: Halloween Walking Tour of the Santa Barbara Cemetery

Resignation by Ettore Cadorin (Petry)

"It's Halloween and Dia de los Muertos and All Souls. The veil between the worlds thins, and its time once again, to recall, to visit, to glide through, the Santa Barbara Cemetery."

David Petry, author of the book The Best Last Place: A History of the Santa Barbara Cemetery, will be your guide through this fascinating place in Santa Barbara history.

Saturday, October 30, 2010, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

~ or ~

Sunday, October 31, 2010, 1:00 - 3:30 p.m.

Santa Barbara Cemetery

901 Channel Drive

Santa Barbara, California

$15 per person

Please RSVP to dlpetry@gmail.com

Bring water, a hat, a camera, and your curiosity!

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From one of Mr. Petry's previous press releases:

Issac Sparks marker, 1867. His initial   
burial in a broken-down Westside
cemetery is the reason the Santa 
Barbara Cemetery exists today. 
(Petry)

The Santa Barbara Cemetery is unique among cemeteries. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the cemetery is home to actors, industrialists, authors, musicians, sports stars, and many of the town’s founders and leaders. It was, for the duration of the Reagan presidency, the chosen site for the Reagan’s burial plot. The Cemetery Chapel is the only sacred structure designed by famed architect George Washington Smith; inside are the only completed murals of Mexican muralist Alfredo Ramos Martinez. Where most cemeteries are corporate-, church-, or government-owned, the Santa Barbara Cemetery is owned and operated by a nonprofit board whose by-laws were originally drafted in 1867.

But more importantly, the Santa Barbara Cemetery has transcended five separate incarnations: as a dusty and geometric town cemetery, as a rudely conceived rural cemetery, as a fitful lawn park cemetery, as an over-achieving memorial park, and as a local columbarium. The Santa Barbara Cemetery has embraced each of these phases and has built upon them, becoming in the end, a modern cemetery that is better than any of the models it followed.

Be sure to sign up for The Best Last Place group on Facebook!

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Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Mr. Petry's book or business in any way. I do own a copy of the book, and I think it is excellent.

Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal