Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery

Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery
Location	501 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Sierra Madre, California
Coordinates	34°9′43″N 118°2′27″W / 34.16194°N 118.04083°W / 34.16194; -118.04083Coordinates: 34°9′43″N 118°2′27″W / 34.16194°N 118.04083°W / 34.16194; -118.04083
Area	2.5 acres
Built	1884
Reference no.	historic landmark #42
Location of Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery in the Los Angeles metropolitan area

Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, is a cemetery in the Sierra Madre, California. In 1881, Nathaniel Coburn Carter purchased land located along Central Ave., later renamed Sierra Madre Boulevard, for use as a Cemetery for the new city.^[1]

Located on a 2.5-acre (10,117 m²) site on Sierra Madre Blvd and Coburn, It is the area's oldest cemetery. A Civil War veteran, John Richardson, who had recently moved to Sierra Madre became the first person interred in the Cemetery on July 3, 1882. Of the first seventeen families that lived in Sierra Madre, when it was founded in 1881, twelve of them are buried in the cemetery.^[2][3] Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery is a historic landmark #42 in Sierra Madre. There are forty-eight properties listed on Sierra Madre's Designated Historical Properties List.^[4][5]

Each Memorial Day since 1924 Sierra Madre VFW Post 3208 with Boy Scouts of America Troop 373 of Sierra Madre places flags and crosses at the graves of military veterans.^[6] Veterans of the American Civil War, both Union and Confederate, Spanish–American War, World War I and World War II and the Korean War are buried at Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery.^[7][8]

After WW 1, Sierra Madre held Parades on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and 4th of July Independence Day. Veterans, Scouts and City officials would march from Sierra Madre Memorial Park to Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery. While the Memorial Day and Veterans Day Parades have ended. The Independence Day Parade continues each year.^[9] A Memorial Day service is held in Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery at 11am each year, hosted by the VFW.^{[10][11][12][13]}

In February 1881, Nathaniel Carter purchased the original 1103 acres that comprised the new city of Sierra Madre. The land was acquired in three purchases: 845 acres of Rancho Santa Anita from Lucky Baldwin, 108 acres from the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and 150 acres from John Richardson (1811-Aug. 9, 1884).^[14][15][16]

Carter transferred 20 feet by 20 feet family sized cemetery plots to city citizens in the early years. He died in 1904 and his widow, Anneta M. Carter, continued to sell family plots by request.^[17]

The cemetery is well cared for now, the only new spaces available are in the new Memorial Garden which is an area for cremains. The cemetery fell into neglect for a short time with upkeep only from volunteers, family members of those interred, local members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion. The Sierra Madre Cemetery Association was organized in 1961 and has maintained the cemetery since then.^[18][19]

Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery is next to Sierra Madre Community Park, Dapper Baseball Field, the City Yard and the city water ponds.

Notable interments

^[20][21]

• Nathaniel Carter (Jan. 24, 1840 - Sept. 2, 1904)^[22]
• Mrs. Annetta M. Carter (Feb, 10, 1846-Sept. 24, 1937)
• Almarian Decker (1852-Aug. 1893)- American pioneer of electrical engineering
• Louise Gunning (April 1, 1879 – July 24, 1960 - American soprano singer
• Donald Gray (March 23, 1933-April 7, 2016) Air Force, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena Chief Navigator of the Navigation Team for Voyager 2. ^[23]
• Alan Wood (military officer) (May 3, 1922 – April 18, 2013) supplied the American flag being raised in the historic Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.
• Professor John Jacob Hart: (July 8, 1843-May 5, 1932)One of the founding fathers of Sierra Madre, music teacher and SM winery owner.^[24]
• Charles E. Whittingham (April 13, 1913 – April 20, 1999)- Legendary horse trainer, his death in 1999, at 86, was announced during the races at Santa Anita Park and the crowd had a moment of silence and stood.
• Van Iersel, Louis (Ludovicus) (b. October 19, 1893-d. June 9, 1987)World War I Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient.^[25]
• Father Roger Wood, (November 9, 1923 - June 14, 2017) a canon of the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Los Angeles. ^[26]
• William H. Newbery: (Sep. 14, 1925-Sept. 25, 2009) A WW2 Veteran (Bronze Star Medal-Battle of the Bulge), owner of Bill's Bicycle Center in Sierra Madre, Boy Scout Leader, volunteer Fireman with SMFD, Sierra Madre VFW 3208 Commander and member of 75th Division Veterans Association ^[27]

See also

• Old North Church (Sierra Madre, California) Historic landmark #40 in Sierra Madre.
• Episcopal Church of the Ascension (Sierra Madre, California) Historic landmark #7

References