Tombstone Thursday-Raleigh's Oakwood Cemetery Part 1

Oakwood Cemetery opened in 1869. The name reflects the oak grove of rolling hills, meandering stream and deep shade in which it was founded.  It is surrounded in a historical district of Victorian homes.

Mayer & Marcus...beloved children of Leopold & Flora Levy

Doret Dettinger

A devoted wife, an affectionate mother, & a true & noble friend.

An angel with a basket to feed birds

An unfortnate name...

“Wade’s Angel”...a  stunning contemporary memorial to Wade Edwards, son of (John and Elizabeth), who died in an automobile accident in 1996.

 In December 2010, Elizabeth Edwards lost her long bout with breast cancer and is buried next to her son, Wade.

 A beautiful memorial to Ouida Estelle Emery Hood. Read an interesting story about Ouida and her memorial here.

Only God is Great

Sorrow  

Comfort

Laurel leaves represents special achievement, distinction, success, triumph of worldly accomplishment, and heroism.  Roses symbolizes beauty.

Zinker bed tombstones

Mollie

March 3, 1843-February 2, 1879

Our angel boy, Jonnie Ellis Simpson

The hope of heaven is sweeter now

A.G. Bauer (1858–1898) was an architect in North Carolina.  He helped him build the Executive Mansion in Raleigh.  In 1884, he met his wife-to-be, Cherokee Indian Rachel Blythe. The couple had to leave North Carolina to get married, since interracial marriages were illegal in North Carolina at the time.  A few years later, in 1896, Bauer's carriage was struck by a train. He survived, but the trauma gave him continuing psychological issues which ruined his reputation.

After Rachel died in 1897, his mental health grew even worse. He constructed an elaborate tombstone for her based on a Grecian temple.  Shortly after completing this last project, Bauer committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

 Of such is the kingdom of heaven

Angel praying...pious devotion. 

James Valvano... head basketball coach at North Carolina State University, he won the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament against long odds.

Take time everday to laugh, to think, to cry.

 Jesse Helms... a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina. 

There is a Confederate section of the Oakwood Cemetery that contains the remains of 1500 soldiers who fought for the Confederacy.  This is the Gettsburg section.

A epitaph for those who fought in the Civil War.