Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California)

Holy Cross Cemetery, also known as Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery is an American Roman Catholic cemetery located in Menlo Park, California, established in the 1860s.[1]

Holy Cross Cemetery
Details
Establishedc. 1860
Location
1880 Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park, California, United States
Coordinates37°26′02″N 122°11′50″W
TypeCatholic
Owned byArchdiocese of San Francisco
No. of graves5400
Websitehttps://holycrosscemeteries.com/holy-cross-menlo-park/
Find a GraveHoly Cross Cemetery
The Political GraveyardHoly Cross Cemetery

History

The cemetery's oldest gravestone dates to 1860, the exact date of the cemetery formation is unknown.[2] This had been a nonsectarian graveyard until the Catholic Church purchased it in 1872.[2]

The initial layout and landscaping of the cemetery was completed by Irish landscaper, Michael Lynch (1847–1918) who happens to also be buried at Holy Cross.[1][2] Other notable projects of Lynch included the grounds of the Flood estate of Woodside; the Timothy Hopkins estate in Menlo Park; and he worked on Stanford University's landscaping.[2][3] A section of the cemetery is made of only children's graves.[2]

In 1953, the abandoned St. Dennis Cemetery of Menlo Park had their remains moved to Holy Cross, however only 24 of the 174 bodies were moved because the rest could not be found.[2][4] In the 1950s and 1960s the cemetery was reconstructed under the leadership of John Kiefer and Edwin Kennedy.[2]

Notable graves
Juana Briones de Miranda, one of the many buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park.

Many of the early pioneer families of the Bay Area are buried at this cemetery.[2] Notable graves include the following:

  • John Beltramo (1859–1948)[2]
  • Juana Briones de Miranda (c. 1802–1889) an early Californio, settling in what is modern-day San Francisco and Palo Alto.[2][5]
  • Walter Jelich (1871–1949) and Mary Jelich (1880–1972)[2]
  • Elena Selby Atherton Macondray Selby (1845–1906), the child of Faxon Dean Atherton, and the widow of Frederick William Macondray Jr. (1803–1862), and Percival Walker Selby (1864–1924).[2]
  • Oscar Salvatierra (1935–2019) Stanford University doctor was that involved in the development and passage of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984.[6]
  • Jared Lawrence Rathbone (1844–1907) was the United States Consul General in Paris from 1887 to 1891.[7]

References
  1. Hubbard, Linda (May 25, 2016). "Kathy Wade takes us on a tour of Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park". InMenlo. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  2. Wood, Barbara (October 3, 2014). "Feature story: A walk through Holy Cross". Almanac News Online. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  3. Staiger, Steve (April 28, 1999). "Timothy Hopkins: The ironic journey of Palo Alto's founder, son of a servant wound up inheriting wealth of railroad magnate". Paloaltoonline.com. Palo Alto Weekly. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  4. "Saint Denis Cemetery (Menlo Park)". Golden State Graveyards. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  5. "Bo Crane leads MPHA tour of Holy Cross Cemetery on October 12". InMenlo. 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  6. "Pioneering Stanford transplant surgeon and Menlo Park resident Oscar Salvatierra dies at 83". InMenlo. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  7. "The Political Graveyard: San Mateo County, Calif". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
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