The Connection - Winter 2026

THE
CONNECTION
WINTER
2026

A NOTE FROM
THE PRESIDENT
As America begins its 250th year, it’s not only
a time of celebration, but also a period for
reflection on the milestone achievements of
those who have paved the way for progress.
And with Women’s History Month beginning on
March 1st, it seems particularly appropriate to
recognize American women whose courage laid
the foundation for—if not changed—the course of
American history. The following three women may
not be household names, but they were torch
bearers nonetheless and their achievements part
of a national narrative which can help us make
sense of our past and its impact on our future.
Consider Margaret Corbin. In 1776, as American
soldiers were defending Fort Washington on
Manhattan, Corbin accompanied her husband to
the battle to help nurse the wounded. But when
her husband was struck by cannon fire and killed,
she immediately jumped in, making her one of the
first women to fight in an American war.
There’s also trailblazer Victoria Woodhull who,
in 1869, became the first woman to address a
congressional committee, arguing for women’s
suffrage before the House Judiciary. In 1870, two
months after becoming the first female to open
a Wall Street brokerage firm (with her sister), she
announced her intention to run for president of
the United States, becoming the first woman
to do so. Outspoken and prone to scandal,
unfortunately her candidacy was deemed
unlawful because at the time she was younger
than the constitutionally defined age of 35.
Then there is C. Delores Tucker whose early
activities in the Civil Rights Movement led to her
numerous breakthrough political appointments.
In 1971, Tucker was appointed by Pennsylvania’s
Governor Milton Shapp as the first Black
female Secretary of the Commonwealth, and
it was in this capacity that she instituted the
first Commission on the Status of Women. She
appointed more women judges and more women
to boards and commissions than ever before.
She was also instrumental in instituting voter
registration by mail and reducing the voting age
from 21 to 18. With accolades spanning from Ebony
and People magazines to Ladies Home Journal,
Tucker dedicated her later years to condemning
sexually explicit lyrics in rap and hip-hop music. A
controversial figure in many respects, Tucker was
nonetheless a champion and crusader for women.
Tucker is interred at Laurel Hill.
During their eras, these daring women were
breaking barriers, but in the death care industry,
attending to the deceased was always viewed
as a woman’s duty—until the Civil War when the
popularization of embalming not only made
transporting soldiers from the battlefield to their
homes for proper funeral services standard
practice, it created male-dominated careers since
women were systematically excluded from the
higher education that embalming required. There
was also the false belief that women were too
squeamish for the job.
As you will read on page 10, that is changing. Today,
the majority of mortuary school graduates are
women, and they are challenging stereotypes
and bringing new perspectives to the field. These
women, including Laurel Hill’s all-female funeral
services staff, are defying contemporary norms
and leveraging the intellect and experience of their
predecessors to advance the death care field.
As we celebrate our nation’s significant birth year,
let’s remember the women of past centuries who
overcame obstacles, large and small, to improve
the lives of everyone. We humbly stand on the
shoulders of these giants and are stronger today
because of their courage and perseverance.
Nancy A. Goldenberg, Hon. ASLA
PRESIDENT & CEO, LAUREL HILL

A LOOK INTO THE PAST:
Heart Healthy
This February, to celebrate not only St. Valentine’s Day but
American Heart Month, we take a closer look at two pioneering
innovators in heart care who are buried at Laurel Hill.
MAKING
PLANS
The Bloom® DTU-215B EP Stimulator
The gadgets that Murray Bloom (1939–2011) designed
and perfected in the 1970s still appear on the shelves
of cardiologists’ offices and hospitals everywhere,
critical components of nearly all procedures to
diagnose and treat cardiac rhythm disorders. The
Philly-born entrepreneur’s instruments to record and
monitor heartbeats perfected the field of cardiac
electrophysiology, particularly in the case of his
eponymous Bloom Stimulator. It’s now available in
a sleeker, updated digital version manufactured by
Fischer Medical, the device maker that acquired his
company in 1992. More importantly, his inventions
live on in the thousands of lives they saved or
prolonged. And thanks to the millions he made from
their success, his family was able to establish funds
to support the causes closet to his heart: cardiac
research and his other true love, music (particularly
jazz and Jewish music). He is buried at Laurel Hill West
in Westlawn 495D.
With his ever-present bowtie and a pipe waggishly
clenched between his lips, Abraham Noordergraaf
(1929–2014) cut a dashing figure on the University
of Pennsylvania campus, where he specialized in
ballistocardiographs, which measure and map
blood pressure and flow into the heart. In the
1960s, he designed a circulatory analog computer
that simulated the pathways of the human heart
to better understand its system and mechanism.
He also developed calculations that were used in a
wide array of ways, including treating hypertension
and discerning the efficacy of cardiopulmonary
resuscitation. Born in the Netherlands, Noordergraaf
studied at the University of Utrecht and upon
receiving his doctorate, joined Penn in the late 1950s,
where he went on to co-found and then chair the
Department of Bioengineering. Besides teaching in
the field there, he held appointments at the School
of Veterinary Medicine and taught classes in Dutch
culture. But it was in matters of the heart that he
cemented his legacy, through classic textbooks like
Blood in Motion. He is buried at Laurel Hill West in
Everglade 224–226H.
“We talk about the importance of having conversations
while you’re still alive about how you want things done
after you die. People often don’t think to do this for a
variety of reasons. It can be cultural or superstitious,
or simply a reluctance to consider their own mortality.”
— Tom Cavanaugh, Director of Cemetery Sales and Family Services, Laurel Hill
4 5

“In between when he was diagnosed with terminal
cancer and when he died later that same year, my
father spent a good amount of his remaining time
detailing exactly how he envisioned his funeral and
memorial service,” remembers Tom Cavanaugh,
Laurel Hill’s director of cemetery sales and family
services. “He spelled out what he wanted for the
viewing, mass, burial and even the lunch afterwards.
It was one of his last gifts to us because we had
very little to do besides grieve. Not needing to make
important financial and personal decisions was such
a weight off our shoulders at a time when we were all
physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted.”
It’s an important lesson that Cavanaugh tries to
impart to as many people as he can. “My team and I
here at Laurel Hill do a lot of pre-need presentations
at senior centers and senior living facilities,” he
says. “We talk about the importance of having
conversations while you’re still alive about how you
want things done after you die. People often don’t
think to do this for a variety of reasons. It can be
cultural or superstitious, or simply a reluctance to
consider their own mortality.”
Cavanaugh says he’s continually surprised by how
often a family comes in to discuss a funeral after the
death of a loved one without even knowing whether
the deceased would have preferred to be buried or
cremated. “This is the very first step, the basis, of
planning,” Cavanaugh says. “If you can iron that out,
you’re already ahead of the game. Then you have to
dig a bit further to make some other choices. With
cremations, will the remains be buried, scattered,
placed in a niche above ground, brought back to
someone’s home or garden? With a traditional burial,
we might talk about casket options or specific burial
locations in our cemetery, like one of our green burial
areas or our Jewish section.”
Other practicalities can include the timing and
location of a memorial service and gathering
biographical data. “There are so many variables,”
Cavanaugh says. “With the memorial service alone
there’s programs, flowers, speakers, a whole series
of considerations. We also appreciate getting as
much information as possible ahead of time for the
preparation of documents like death certificates and
obituaries. Working with your funeral director, you
can pre-arrange from soup to nuts to help put all of
the wheels in motion so we can take care of as much
as possible ahead of time.”
Many families include prepaying in these
preparations. “When it comes to price and inventory,
it’s a fact that the former goes up every year,
while the latter goes down,” Cavanaugh observes.
“Prepaying locks in the price and the site. Next to
all of the options and details that go into planning
a funeral, which can be overwhelming, the costs
associated with them are the biggest shock since
the average funeral can run more than $10,000 for a
traditional service. We can help you pick and choose
to cut those costs.”
Cavanaugh hastens to add that it’s smart not to let all
of the moving parts dissuade you. “I always smile when
someone basically throws up their hands and says, oh
just toss me in the lake, I don’t need a service! I get it,
but I need to remind them that a well-planned funeral
is as much, or more, for the survivors as it is for the
deceased person. You need to think about the closure
that your loved ones will want and deserve.”
Cavanaugh always advises people to “plan your
funeral service and celebration of life as if it was
going to happen next week, as weird as that might
sound.” Since you don’t know how you’ll feel when you
die, whether that’s in six months or thirty years from
now, it’s all you have to go on. You can always revisit
things periodically and make changes, he adds, and if
you end up with a smaller funeral than you originally
planned for, your remaining prepaid money will go to
any beneficiaries you name.
“Remember, nothing is written in stone, if you’ll
pardon the pun,” Cavanaugh concludes. “But when
you preplan your arrangements, you’re ensuring your
wishes are carried out and you’re making it much
easier for your survivors during a very difficult time.”
UPCOMING
PROGRAMMING
Death Café
January 20 and April 28, 6:30 PM–7:30 PM
Virtual (Zoom)
A global phenomenon, Death Cafés offer a
virtual or communal space for strangers to meet
and talk openly and authentically about death.
There’s no agenda, objectives, or themes beyond
increasing awareness of death and making
the most of our finite lives. The participant-led
sessions, which are held quarterly, are facilitated
by Laurel Hill staff, who are not professional
counselors.
Dueling Death Doulas
February 7, 3:00 PM–5:00 PM
Laurel Hill West, Conservatory
Join Laurel Hill funeral director Pat Quigley as she
talks with three locally-based death doulas—Kyra
Overmier, Isabel Knight aka The Death Designer,
and Nefertiti Moor—about their approaches to
the process of death and dying.
Queer Death Salon
March 10, 6:30 PM–7:30 PM
Laurel Hill West, Funeral Home
Kyra Overmier kicks off a series of new
“focused” Death Cafés oriented toward specific
communities that may be facing unique
challenges. A BIPOC Death Café in June, and a
Veterans Death Café in November will follow.
Spring Equinox Tree Walk & Meditation
March 21, 1:00 PM–3:00 PM
Laurel Hill East
Just as the spring equinox is a time of transition
in nature, it’s also an invitation to reflect on our
own lives as we get ready to emerge from winter
with new energy. This arboretum walk and guided
meditation explore balance, transformation
and emergence. The walk’s leaders, Arboretum
Director Aaron Greenberg & Energy Guide Asia
IrgangLaden will return to celebrate the summer
solstice and Fall equinox.
Nurture With Nature
May 15, 3:00 PM–5:00 PM
Laurel Hill West, Nature’s Sanctuary
and Bala Green
Working with the healing power of plants can
help to decrease stress and anxiety, process
grief, and improve overall well-being. Kate Irvine,
licensed Therapeutic Horticulture Practitioner
and mixed media artist, offers a four-part series
that invites participants to learn about the uses
and roles of specific native plants through the
lens of natural cycles. Attend one, some, or all
2026 sessions, which continue throughout the
summer.
“When you preplan your arrangements, you’re ensuring your wishes are
carried out and you’re making it much easier for your survivors during a
very difficult time.”
Nurture with Nature
6 7

ARBORETUM ANGLE
THE LIFE
OF TREES
When Aaron Greenberg, arboretum director for
Laurel Hill, gives presentations on the cemetery’s
unparalleled collection of trees, he’s invariably asked
how old a giant oak, maple or magnolia tree is.
“For the most part,” he says, “our answer is an
educated guess.” Of course, everyone knows how to
measure a tree that’s died: count the concentric rings
around its core. But estimating the age of a living tree
is another thing altogether.
One standard formula calls for multiplying a predetermined
growth factor for a specific species by the
diameter of the specimen. But, Greenberg cautions,
other conditions—environmental and geographic,
for instance—can throw off the accuracy of these
calculations. A more reliable tool in the case of a
centuries-old site like Laurel Hill can be the historical
record. “We are fortunate to have some purchase
papers, surveys and plans, and even a list of trees
delineated by founder John Jay Smith,” he points out.
“But there’s not nearly as much early documentation
as we’d like. When I joined Laurel Hill in 2017, I was
able to find thorough recordkeeping that dated from
maybe ten years before, and that was it. Now, we
make it a point to keep good records, especially since
we’re an accredited arboretum.”
“We’ve also cored a Bur Oak that turned out to be
around 130 years old,” Greenberg adds. “We thought
they might have been original to the cemetery and
were surprised to find that they aren’t. We did date a
fir tree back to 145 years, plus or minus ten years, and
then located a purchase order that Smith made at
that time for the same species, so we’re pretty sure
that it’s an original tree.” The arboretum team also
recently cored four Yulan Magnolias for a researcher
at Longwood Gardens, revealing that some of them
were over 125 years old.
Greenberg reassures those who might be concerned
about whether this method can harm the tree.
“There’s a whole field called dendrochronology that
uses annual growth rings not only to date trees but to
look for patterns of environmental change,” he says,
“and there’s been no evidence that coring causes any
significant amount of damage. The wound from the
borer is a smaller wound than any pruning cut that
I might normally administer.” All in all, he adds, the
benefits of historic and arboreal knowledge greatly
outweigh this minimal intrusion.
8
Clockwise from top left: Laurel Hill East Ground Plan 1844,
Laurel Hill Planting Guidebook 1844, Examples of cored trees,
and John Jay Smith planting purchases circa 1870
Recently, Greenberg and his team have been able to
enhance Laurel Hill’s methods of aging living trees
with the addition of a set of six increment borers (four
of them donated by Edward “Ned” Barnard, author of
Philadelphia Trees and other guides). The instrument
makes ring calculations possible without waiting for
a tree to die by boring a small hole into the tree so an
arborist can extract a core the width of the pencil. “It’s
not mechanized—there’s no gas or battery power—so
you have to manually crank into the tree, which is quite
hard work,” says Greenberg. “With a relatively soft
wood like fir, this may take 20 minutes but a harder
wood like oak or beech can take a few hours.”
Last winter, the team cored about a dozen of the
cemetery’s trees and expects to do the same number
this season. The effort started with some of the
biggest and most spectacular trees since they are
likely very old. A few of these were state champions,
including a yew whose age Greenberg estimated to
be around 125-years-old. It has since died and Laurel
Hill will honor its long lifespan not only with a fitting
funeral but also by turning its trunk into a bench and
its limbs into other products.
Tu B’Shevat
Sunday, February 1, 2–4 PM
Laurel Hill West
This February, Laurel Hill once again celebrates
Tu B’Shevat, familiarly known as the Jewish
New Year for Trees. Based on a calendar that’s
thousands of years old, this is historically a time
for tree planting. While that’s not the case for
our climate, Laurel Hill recognizes its Jewish
community with a program at the cemetery
presented in collaboration with Philadelphia’s
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish
History. The one-hour tour stops to examine
species like willows and cedar that have historical,
agricultural, and spiritual connections to Judaism
and boast strong winter interest. Afterward, warm
up indoors in Laurel Hill’s Conservatory while
enjoying wine and fruits significant to the holiday
and often consumed during Tu B’Shevat Seders.
Visit laurelhillphl.com/event/tu-bshevat
for more details.
9

A TOUCHING
DEATH
Green burials encourage loved ones to
participate in the art of preparing the dead.
Laurel Hill funeral director Amanda Kyle vividly recalls
watching the tender scene as a circle of friends
gathered to wash their loved one’s body before her
funeral and green burial. “They moved with quiet
intention,” she says, “laying out the natural fabrics
they had chosen and arranging the wildflowers they
had brought. Each gesture seemed an expression of
devotion. As they gently bathed and prepared her,
they talked to her as if she was still listening, and they
shared stories with each other, offering thanks, crying
openly, and holding one another.”
She went on to note, “When the group emerged from
the room, they described this precious time together
as beautiful and grounding. It drew all the mourners
closer to their friend, even the few who chose to wait
outside, and gave them a measure of peace in the
midst of their grief.”
and at the time men were the only ones getting an
education,” Dugan points out.
Today, mourners who choose green burials will find
the hallmarks of those less complicated times, thanks
to the option’s core idea of being as sustainable as
possible. The body of the deceased will probably not
be embalmed (though formaldehyde-free formulas do
exist) and any clothing worn must be biodegradable
(made from natural fibers like cotton, wool, silk or
linen) and free of buttons, snaps and zippers. “That
idea of leaving no trace goes all the way down to the
soaps and antiseptics used and the total absence
of any plastics, metals, and glues,” says Dugan. The
receptacle to contain the body may be a traditional
wood casket of unfinished pine (no waxes, dyes or
varnishes) or a container of a material like seagrass or
bamboo, or simply an outer shroud.
Zoe Greenberg for The Philadelphia Inquirer
Amanda’s experience is not atypical for the all-female
funeral services team at Laurel Hill Funeral Home,
especially as green burials gain in popularity and
families are encouraged to directly participate in
them. “In the past, this role of preparing the body was
reserved for women,” says Tasha Dugan, manager of
Laurel Hill Funeral Home. “It was a big responsibility
because even though it might be deemed menial, the
cleaning and dressing spoke volumes to the idea of
women being nurturers and caretakers, just like we
have always done naturally for our own families.”
Before there were morticians or undertakers, or an
industry devoted to burials, there was a small group
of people involved in funeral traditions, including
male furniture makers who carved wood caskets and
male clergy who acted as officiants. The women who
took care of the first step—cleaning and prepping
the body of the deceased to be ready for visitations
at home before burial—were referred to as ‘layersout’.”
Layers-out used simple and natural materials in
their preparations, like alcohol for sterilization while
cleaning the body and charcoal to slow down the
process of decomposition. That tradition lasted until
the Civil War, when chemical embalming became
widely used to preserve the bodies of dead soldiers for
transport back to their families around the country. As
the modern, male-dominated funeral industry grew in
the late 19th-century, the practice of at-home laying
out declined and women took a back seat. “These
industries demanded training and accreditation
And just as in the days of yore, friends and relatives
are welcome to participate in the washing and
preparing of the body. “We know that doing so offers
some type of healing,” says Dugan. “We’ve seen it
time and time again, even if the mourners are at first
reluctant. When they come in and then actually start
cleaning their loved one, they find themselves talking
and laughing and sharing stories. Often, they surprise
themselves and thank us for the chance to take part in
these intimate moments.”
The presence of experienced funeral workers is one
way in which the tradition has been modernized,
though it’s not required. “The superstition or fear
about having a recently deceased body in your
home or being around someone who recently died
is disappearing,” Dugan says. “We are happy to
encourage friends and family to take advantage of
the opportunity to prepare the body of their loved
one. For me and for the other funeral directors here,
we know that the burial can be a group effort that
everyone benefits from by going through it together.
It’s wonderful to see the dissipation of any lingering
anxiety when participants allow themselves to open
up in front of each other. Giving this tradition back to
grieving family members and friends reaffirms that
death is a part of life and is nothing to be scared of,”
she concludes. “It’s a chance to do something for
your loved ones—your final chance to show your love
for them.”
10 11

DONOR PROFILE
Kelly &
Craig Eidell
Last Word
COMINGS & GOINGS
The Friends of Laurel Hill is excited to welcome several new members to its board
of directors, leaders with impressive community engagement and experience in
business, horticulture, finance, history, and the nonprofit sector. They bring fresh
perspectives and enthusiasm to the board.
HELLOS
When Kelly and Craig Eidell relocated to Philadelphia in 2008, they did so primarily
to be closer to family. But, laughs Kelly, “I do love old and historical stuff, so it
definitely felt like the right move for that reason, too.”
Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for them to discover Laurel Hill and become
consistent visitors and eventually members. In the early days of the pandemic,
the cemetery “really served as a huge lifeline and we started exploring all of it,”
says Craig. “East is so well designed and beautiful, but we discovered that West
is impressive with those huge monuments and the hilly terrain,” adds Kelly. The
couple spent their first visit at West searching for the grave of Gilded Age architect
Horace Trumbauer, designer of mansions they had become familiar with in their
own neighborhood of Elkins Park.
SALLY ELK
How did you land in Philadelphia?
I was born in Storm Lake, Iowa, graduated from Iowa State
University and gradually made my way to Philadelphia, where I
enrolled in Penn’s new graduate program in historic preservation.
Six months into the program, I started working for the Philadelphia
Historical Commission and became involved in saving Eastern State
Penitentiary. Eventually, I wound up serving as its President and CEO
until my retirement in mid-2023.
When did you first hear of Laurel Hill?
I wrote a paper on it for my Penn class, Early American Landscapes.
After I retired, Nancy Goldenberg told me about its historic
preservation issues and I felt that I could be of assistance. I love
that Laurel Hill represents a huge swath of the history of American
cemeteries and I look forward to getting to know it better!
Their love of walking the grounds has been enhanced by their active participation in
the cemetery. “Over the years, we have supported the Friends of Laurel Hill through
membership, contributions to the annual fund, and attending events,” Craig says.
“We believe it is essential to preserve the unique legacy of the cemetery, ensuring it
remains a communal space for everyone, now and in the future.”
An avid amateur photographer, Craig gets a kick out of knowing that the man
credited with taking the first selfie, Robert Cornelius, is buried at Laurel Hill. And,
a few years ago when the Friends of Laurel Hill put out a call for artwork that
showcased aspects of the cemetery, Craig’s photo of the Dillon angel was chosen
to be displayed.
A recently retired teacher, Kelly says she “loves a good historic tour, and I appreciate
that the Laurel Hill volunteer guides are so involved and invested in the walks they
create and lead.” One of her favorite recent tours stopped by the graves of those
whose lives intersected with Edgar Allan Poe when he lived in Philadelphia, including
a publisher and a bar owner. “There are so many tours that act like pieces of a puzzle
that we get to assemble so they form a multi-faceted history of our city,” Kelly says.
TONY GOWEN
Tell us a little about your background.
I was born and raised in West Chester, PA and after college in New
York I returned to Philadelphia to work at Thomas F. Gowen & Sons,
a manufacturer’s rep firm in the sporting goods industry founded
by my great-grandfather in 1930. It’s been my entire career.
Why have you decided to join the board?
Ever since I first noticed Laurel Hill while running along Kelly Drive as
a fresh faced 14-year-old, I’ve instinctively known that it was a special
place. A few years ago, my good friend, Jon Sirlin, introduced me to
the Friends of Laurel Hill and, over time, taught me more about its
history and mission and introduced me to Nancy and the amazing
staff. I was honored when I was asked to serve on the board and
can’t wait to be a part of the Laurel Hill family and team.
12 13

14
HELLOS (continued)
KATE JIGGINS
When did you first discover Laurel Hill?
My husband and I started going to different events at Laurel Hill
(goat yoga, murder mystery dinner, Dead Milkmen concert) and
I was just in heaven. In high school, I was into punk, Britpop, and
Goth, and had lots of friends who hung out at cemeteries because
of that subculture. So, it seemed very natural and inviting for me
to attend events at a cemetery. Then we lost our dog in September
2020 and turned to Laurel Hill for aquamation services.
Why have you decided to join the board?
It’s a no brainer for me. I have a lot of experience in event planning,
so I am generally a good fit for boards that require that kind of
energy. Everything about Laurel Hill is a miracle to me. I love nature.
I love cemeteries. I love history. I love Philadelphia. Laurel Hill
offering green burials is absolutely fantastic, because there is no
other place I’d rather go back into the earth than here—my family
has lived in the Philadelphia area since the mid-1700s, so I often say
I feel like my blood is in the soil here. I am thrilled to have been asked
to help steward this remarkable place.
DAVID C. PEPPARD
What was your introduction to Laurel Hill?
My first real experience with Laurel Hill was about ten years ago.
I was dropping off a donation at the Laurel Hill East location and
was immediately awed by the gates. I returned specifically to
attend a history lecture focused on Victorian architecture and
landscape design and was struck by the serene beauty and the
cemetery’s deep significance as a living, historical archive.
Why have you decided to join the board?
I decided to join the board out of a strong belief in the importance
of oversight and long-term preservation. Laurel Hill is a vital,
irreplaceable historical landscape and cultural resource for
Philadelphia and I see this as an opportunity to dedicate my
professional skills—particularly in strategic planning and financial
governance—to ensure the institution remains stable, accessible,
and meaningful for future generations.
At the same time, we wish a fond farewell to longstanding board members
Kristie Bergey and Andy Waskie, who have served with diligence and fidelity.
Kristie, an outstanding Philadelphia realtor who for nearly a decade brought creativity
and positivity to the board and to volunteer efforts, will remain on a board committee,
so we will continue to benefit from her service.
Andy deserves special thanks. For over forty years, he has given extraordinary
time, effort, and knowledge to the Friends of Laurel Hill. He has published books
about Laurel Hill, led hundreds of tours and arranged and led important annual
events on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, General George Meade’s birthday and other
commemorative events. Andy is well-deserving of being our first-ever emeritus board
member, which means we will continue to have the benefit of his skill, knowledge and
affection for Laurel Hill. — Jon Sirlin, Chair, Board of Directors, Friends of Laurel Hill
GOODBYES
Jon Sirlin (left) & Andy Waskie (right)
ANTHONY (ANDY) WASKIE
Do you remember your first visit to Laurel Hill?
It was in 1983 and I was engaged in intense research on the Civil War,
especially the Battle of Gettysburg and I was fascinated by the role
played by General George G. Meade. When I discovered that he was a
Philadelphian and was buried in Laurel Hill, I visited his grave and was
mesmerized by the history and beauty of the cemetery. I promised
myself that I would return and bring friends and colleagues along.
And you wound up serving on the board for decades!
After 40 years of service, I have become sort of a fixture here.
I have survived many twists and turns and changes, but remain
devoted to the preservation, promotion and progress of our sacred
site. One of my greatest achievements, I believe, has been founding
the General Meade Society, which seeks to promote Meade’s
memory, life and career.
KRISTIE BERGEY
How did you first learn about Laurel Hill?
While at Temple University in the late ‘90s, I wrote my thesis on death
and used photography and rubbings from the cemetery to present my
final. Ever since my first experience there, I have wanted to become
more involved.
What’s been your greatest achievement after nearly
a decade on the board?
Bringing more attention to the spaces and what we have to offer
to folks that have not known anything more than driving by the
property. I also volunteered with the Paradise neighborhood and
am proud of helping to connect Laurel Hill with that community. I’m
also excited by all of the work that has been done to the gatehouse
and the grounds of the cemetery—the grants and partnerships that
we have accrued in such a short time have been remarkable.
15

215 BELMONT AVENUE
BALA CYNWYD, PA 19004
Hours of Operation
THE GROUNDS OF LAUREL HILL ARE OPEN TO VISITORS DAILY INCLUDING WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT LAURELHILLPHL.COM.
7:00 AM TO 5:00 PM
7:00 AM TO 7:00 PM
DURING DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME
LAUREL HILL WEST OFFICES ARE OPEN:
LAUREL HILL EAST OFFICES ARE OPEN:
8:00 AM to 4:30 PM MONDAY–FRIDAY
9:00 AM to 3:00 PM SATURDAY
10:00 AM to 2:00 PM SUNDAY
8:30 AM to 4:30 PM MONDAY–FRIDAY
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM SATURDAY
9:30 AM to 4:30 PM SUNDAY
610.668.9900
LAUREL HILL WEST & LAUREL HILL FUNERAL HOME
215 BELMONT AVENUE • BALA CYNWYD, PA 19004
215.228.8200
LAUREL HILL EAST & FRIENDS OF LAUREL HILL
3822 RIDGE AVENUE • PHILADELPHIA, PA 19132
CEMETERIES · FUNERAL HOME · ARBORETUM