10 March 2009

Tombstone Tuesday

This is my first Tombstone Tuesday post. I know that most people post headstones of their relatives. I don't know if that's a rule; if it is, I'll conform and do that next week. I hope that I can post some of the memorable headstones that I've found during my cemetery escapades every once in a while.

This is the memorial to Lillian Leitzel (January 2, 1892 – February 15, 1931), a circus performer who worked high atop on the rings. She was famous for one-armed swings. Her husband was Alfredo Cordoba, of the trapeze family. Lillian died in Copenhagen, Denmark, when a ring broke and she fell. This monument in Inglewood Park in Los Angeles County was erected by Alfredo in memory to his wife. Other members of the Cordoba family are buried in this plot, and plaques mark their resting places.



It is thought that the angel was created in Alfredo's likeness. Alfredo eventually retired and worked in the film industry on Tarzan films, among others. He remarried and tragically murdered his soon-to-be-ex-wife in her lawyer's office before turning the gun on himself.






Notice the detail of the broken ring?

1 comment:

  1. A amazing monument with great history!Thanks so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete