Mortician, Bury Thyself

William Winfield Crippen is the latest of at least seven area pioneering funeral directors that I've found buried at Grand View Memorial Park.

Mr. Crippen was born in Iowa on December 26, 1884 and passed away in Los Angeles on March 10, 1956. He is entombed in the Great Mausoleum along with his father, Charles (1855-1937) and his wife Ethel, who passed away in 1988 at the age of 101.

His obituary was published in The Los Angeles Times on March 12, 1956, which notes that his arrangements were handled by the mortuary he founded:

Crippen Mortuary is still in operation, going strong after 80-plus years of service, currently located in La Crescenta.  In a Six Degress of Separation twist, in recent years Crippen Mortuary became the successor to another local mortuary, Eckerman-Heisman Funeral Service, whose co-founder, John Heisman, is also buried at Grand View. 

Grand View Memorial Park's West Mausoleum

Note: This post is also a submission for the Graveyard Rabbit Carnival July Obituary Challenge. The rules being: locate a grave and then its corresponding obituary, or vice versa, and post our findings.  In this case, I found the crypt first (while documenting notables in the mausoleum for a local history book project) then looked up the obit at the library.

Comments

[Harry Martin]

It always strikes me as funny when they put the entire address of his home in the obituary. ... "Burglars, please note service time for the best time to get in the home."

[Judith Richards Shubert]

Hi Lisa,
Enjoyed reading about Mr. Crippen and the mortuary he founded. Sounds like you're doing fantastic work with the Grand View Memorial Park. Keep up the good work.

I liked the quip about the address being published in the obit. My sentiments exactly!