Tag: Cave Hill Cemetery

Latest Headlines

Ali chose his Cave Hill site, but location kept secret for now; security a long-term problem

The late prize-fighter and Louisville native personally picked out his Cave Hill Cemetery gravesite a decade ago, challenged only by deciding which plot would be best at the 300-acre burial grounds in the Highlands.

Muhammad Ali
Ali in 1967.

Ali will have a modest marker after his burial tomorrow, following Muslim tradition and his wish to remain humble despite his outsized life — in sharp contrast to the more ornate cemetery art on many of the other 130,000 occupied plots there. Family spokesman Bob Gunnell and Cave Hill would not say exactly where the grave will be, according to the Associated Press. But it’s certain to become a pilgrimage site for worldwide fans of the humanitarian, raising the cemetery’s already high profile — and security concerns as well. Ali will join a who’s-who of governors, business leaders and other Kentucky residents there. The most-visited grave is that of KFC founder Harland Sanders.

Ali died last Friday in Phoenix, where he lived most of the year. He was 74 and had been battling Parkinson’s disease for decades.

Cave Hill traces its history to 1846, when the mayor and city council set out to develop what soon became a “garden” cemetery, which by then was a concept gaining popularity in major U.S. cities. It’s unclear what measures will be taken to keep Ali’s grave undisturbed. Entering the cemetery isn’t easy, however; it’s surrounded by a high brick wall topped in places with razor wire, and the entry gates at Broadway and Baxter and on Grinstead Drive are monitored by security cameras and a guard. (See a map of Cave Hill.)

Securing Ali’s body has already been an issue; gossip site TMZ reported that officers with the Metro Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff were stationed outside the A.D. Porter and Sons Funeral Home, which is coordinating some of this week’s events.

Elvis
Bodynap target.

At other cemeteries, guarding burial sites of celebrities has been a problem. Someone stole Charlie Chaplin’s body from his Switzerland grave and held it for ransom, the Associated Press says. Elvis Presley was first buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis in 1977, but his family moved him to his Graceland estate after three men were accused of plotting to steal it. Authorities foiled a plan to steal Abraham Lincoln’s body at Illinois’ Oak Ridge Cemetery and hold it for ransom in 1876, nine years after he died. Ultimately, his coffin was moved 17 times, mostly due to numerous reconstructions of his tomb and fears for the safety of his remains.

Celebrities’ graves can be a potentially valuable tourist attraction. Continue reading “Ali chose his Cave Hill site, but location kept secret for now; security a long-term problem” →

Latest Headlines

In secrecy, Ali himself made sure his final show in Louisville would be the greatest of all
KFC Yum Center night
Ali’s funeral will be a publicity jackpot for Yum Brands and other companies. Some 15,000 mourners are expected at his memorial service Friday at the Yum Center.

Muhammad Ali planned his celebrity-packed Louisville funeral events this week in a two-inch thick document he developed in secret with his inner circle of family and advisors during a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Ali and his book
Ali and his 1975 memoirs.

Ali signed off on the plan in 2010, according to NBC News, although revisions continued until just days before the prize fighter and globally famous humanitarian died late Friday in a hospital in Phoenix, his primary home; he was 74.

In other words, the Thrilla in Manilla and the Rumble in the Jungle are about to meet the Burial ‘n Louisville before a television audience of untold millions, plus hundreds of thousands more attending in person across the city. The multi-day lineup may well rival “Operation Serenade,” the grand finale President Ronald Reagan’s aides orchestrated for his funeral 12 years ago. (Latest Ali funeral news, plus Twitter updates.)

Ali’s plans are virtually without precedent in recent Louisville history. They will demand the coordination of scores of businesses and government agencies. Although the final cost may never be known, it could run well into seven-figures. The events will be a publicity boon to companies from Yum Brands and KFC to A.D. Porter & Sons Funeral Home; storied Cave Hill Cemetery; a local public relations firm — and even street vendors selling souvenirs along the funeral procession route. Others are trying to cash in, too: One Craigslist advertiser in Nashville is offering a pair of boxing gloves purportedly signed by Ali himself for $20,000.

Bob Gunnell
Gunnell

Some proposals were scrapped, including having his body lie in repose at the Muhammad Ali Center downtown, according to long-time family spokesman and Boxcar PR owner Bob Gunnell. Ali’s wife, Lonnie, worried it would interrupt the center’s operations. “Instead,” says NBC, “Ali added a slow procession through the streets of the city, past the museum built in his honor, along the boulevard named after him and through the neighborhood where he grew up and learned to box. That will happen Friday morning, before the funeral service itself at the KFC Yum Center.”

Royalty in the house

Ultimately, a good portion of the cost will be borne by taxpayers for what will be a huge turnout of Louisville police officers, plus the U.S. Secret Service, FBI and other law enforcement needed to guard the Porter & Sons Funeral Home; control crowds, and protect visiting dignitaries — including at least one sitting king.

King Abdulla
King Abdullah

Actor Will Smith, who played Ali in the 2001 film of the same name, will be a pallbearer. Former President Bill Clinton and the comedian Billy Crystal will deliver eulogies at the massive public memorial service at 2 p.m. Friday at the Yum Center.

King Abdullah II of Jordan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had been scheduled to speak. But yesterday, they were bumped to make room for two other speakers whom Gunnell, the Ali family publicist, said would be identified later. President Obama could be one of them, along with First Lady Michelle Obama.

The Yum service is open to the public, but tickets — there will be 15,000 — are required; (how to get them). That’s already spurred out-of-towners as far away as Ottawa to offer $200 — and possibly even more — to anyone willing to stand in line to get one on their behalf when they become available tomorrow starting 10 a.m.

“Willing to pay any amount!!!” a man named Adam says in this Craigslist ad. “I am flying in from Canada to pay respects to my childhood hero, Muhammad Ali.”

At least one company was advertising for street vendors to hawk Ali flags, buttons, and other commemorative merchandise from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday along the Muhammad Ali Boulevard procession route and in front of the Yum Center.

Ali boxing gloves
But are they real?

Earn $200-$300!

“Seeking outgoing sales team,” the Craigslist poster said, before taking the ad down. “You will be selling Muhammad Ali flags and buttons, celebrating the life of Louisville’s hometown hero (and world hero)! Your pay: 20% commission; average earnings $200-$300.”

In Nashville, a Craigslist advertiser is selling what they claimed are a pair of boxing gloves signed by Ali at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where Ali himself lit the Olympic Cauldron. Asking price: $20,000. “This is a treasure find,” the ad says.

Porter & Sons Funeral Home on Bardstown Road is coordinating at least some of the services. The public ceremonies will be followed by a private burial in Cave Hill Cemetery in the Highlands, a much simpler event planned in accordance with Ali’s Islamic faith. He’ll be among other prominent figures from Louisville and Kentucky history in the historic burial ground, says The Courier-Journal. (More about Cave Hill.)

Here’s Will Smith in the Ali movie trailer:

Latest Headlines

Haier opens Russian fridge factory, as GE close nears today; Ford shakes up China; and ‘you were hot’ at Dallas Roadhouse
R_13936_01_n
Two employees work on an Appliance Park spray line in 1953, two years after construction started. China-based Haier could close on its $5.4 billion purchase of the GE complex today.

A news summary, focused on big employers; updated 3:13 p.m.

GE: Haier has opened a new refrigerator factory in Russia to serve increasing demand from the European market. The new plant is the first joint Sino-Russian business project in a non-energy field (China.org). Back in the U.S., Haier wants its product development model to be more collaborative with its supply chain (Plastic News). The Chinese company could close on its $5.4 billion purchase of GE’s appliance business as soon as today. Meanwhile, GE is considering scrapping annual raises, as well as the longstanding and much-imitated system of rating employees on a five-point scale — moves that could lead other major companies to reconsider their own compensation plans (Bloomberg).

FORD reshuffled China sales leadership: Dave Schoch, group vice president and president of Asia Pacific, will take over and add the title of chairman and chief executive officer, Ford China. “As our growth plans in China have developed, this market is delivering an increasingly important portion of our revenue and profits globally,” CEO Mark Fields said. “Elevating the reporting of this business right now reflects China’s importance in our profitable growth plan going forward” (press release). Ford shares were up 1.2% to $13.19 40 minutes before the closing bell.

KFC will temporarily close at least some of its 12 restaurants in the southern African nation of Botswana this week after being placed under partial bankruptcy liquidation. Franchiser VPB Propco said it had been trying to the sell the restaurants for the past year without success, and the only option left was to shutter them, eliminating 400 jobs (Bloomberg). KFC clarified that the liquidation will not affect its business in neighboring South Africa (AFK Insider).

BROWN-FORMAN: Two of the newly appointed members of the board of directors — Campbell Brown and Marshall Farrer — have disclosed stock holdings in the family controlled spirits and wine company. Brown listed sole ownership of 805,313 Class A shares, and 312,208 Class B shares (SEC document). Farrer listed sole ownership of 315 Class A shares, and 116 Class B (SEC document). Both men also disclosed beneficial ownership of thousands of other A and B shares, but because some are counted twice as a result of overlapping trusts, it’s unclear how many shares are involved.

Fortune 500The new Fortune 500 list of the biggest-revenue companies includes three in Louisville. HUMANA (No. 52); YUM (218); and KINDRED (372). They all appeared on the magazine’s list last year, too. Walmart held onto the No. 1 spot in the rankings published today (Fortune).

TEXAS ROADHOUSE: A customer at a Dallas area restaurant regrets a missed opportunity for romance with another diner. “I was sitting outside with my two boys waiting to be seated,” he wrote in the Craigslist Missed Connections section. “You came out and we locked eyes. . . . You then asked if you knew me! You were hot, but I was honest and said no. I wouldn’t mind getting to know you tho! 😉 tell me what you looked like or what you were wearing” (Craigslist Dallas).

In other news, the late boxing heavyweight and humanitarian Muhammad Ali will be buried Friday at Cave Hill Cemetery, a decision the Louisville native made that will raise the profile of the storied burial ground. Ali died late Friday at a Phoenix hospital after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 74, and lived principally in Phoenix. His family asked that expressions of sympathy take the form of donations to the Muhammad Ali Center downtown (WFPL). About the Muhammad Ali Center.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major stock indices rose shortly before noon as investors look toward a speech by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen (Google Finance). All 11 big employers in Boulevard’s Stock Portfolio were trading higher.

Photo, top: University of Louisville Digital Collections.

Final Business

Up in smoke: Amid $10,000 funerals, Cave Hill Cemetery cremation rates have soared

Only 10 years ago, just 3% of the internments at storied Cave Hill Cemetery involved cremations. Today, the cemetery estimates the rate has soared to 37%. The statewide rate is lower: 22%, but across the U.S., it’s nearly 47%.

UrnNo wonder. A traditional funeral in the U.S. costs $8,000 to $10,000, with the single-biggest expense being a casket, averaging $2,300 — a pricey item cremation doesn’t require. Urns for ashes, on the other hand, are a lot cheaper, such as the $139.95 one pictured, left.

The cemetery’s more famous permanent residents include KFC founder Harland Sanders.

Related: Read more about Louisville cemeteries, and funeral homes. Much of the state’s funeral industry is regulated by the state Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors; the board publishes industry laws and regulations, including requirements for inspections and publicly available price lists for caskets and other merchandise, plus services.

Photo, top: the cemetery’s iconic entrance at Broadway and Baxter.

Entrepreneurs

In Yum’s history, 11 herbs and spices became a recipe for a fast-food giant

Boulevard focuses on news about some of Louisville’s biggest employers, nonprofits, and cultural institutions. This is one in an occasional series about them.

Harland Sanders
Sanders

Louisville-based Yum Brands traces its corporate roots to one of the most-recognized entrepreneurs — and cooks — in the world: Col. Harland Sanders. He launched his iconic Kentucky Fried Chicken chain in 1930 from his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Ky., during the Great Depression.

It grew into a business giant based on his secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices. In 1964, at age 73, Sanders sold the chain for $2 million ($15 million in 2016 dollars) to a partnership led by Kentucky businessman John Y. Brown Jr. (a lawyer and future governor of the state) and Jack C. Massey, a venture capitalist.

In the 1970s and 80s, KFC passed through a series of owners, ultimately getting acquired by PepsiCo.

The beverage giant added Pizza Hut in 1977, and Mexican fast-food chain Taco Bell in 1978 — and then it spun off all three into Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997. Tricon made Louisville its corporate headquarters, and then adopted the name Yum! Brands. (Boulevard doesn’t use the exclamation mark because it looks like a typo to readers who aren’t familiar with the brand!)

With nearly 43,000 restaurants in more than 130 countries and territories, Yum is now one of the biggest restaurant chains in the world. Its marquee brands — KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell — are one of the biggest private employers, with a combined 505,000 employees; a majority of them work part-time. Revenues in 2015 exceeded $13 billion. It ranked No 218 in the Fortune 500 in June 2016.

Greg Creed
Creed

In Louisville, Yum employs 1,000 at the corporate headquarters as well as KFC’s U.S. division offices. In early 2016, however, CEO Greg Creed and the four other top executives shifted to Plano north of Dallas, where the company’s biggest two divisions, KFC Global and Pizza Hut, are headquartered. Allaying concerns that Yum’s corporate headquarters might move, too, a spokesman told WDRB in February 2016 the executives would work from Louisville one or two weeks per month. Taco Bell is based in southern California’s Irvine.

Sanders’ affiliation with KFC hasn’t entirely ended. He continued as a spokesman for many years after he sold the chain to Brown and Massey. He died in 1980 at Jewish Hospital and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery before a monument designed to look like the KFC-Yum headquarters, at 1441 Gardiner Lane. For many years, his grave has been the most-visited there.

Last year, Yum resurrected the colonel — actually, former Saturday Night Live comedian Darrell Hammond — to boost sales. But the new series of commercials that followed have gotten mixed reviews. Here’s one:

Diversions

Where is one of the Speed Museum’s most famous residents?

She’s on an out-of-town trip, according to The Courier-JournalJ. From the Speed’s website:

Anthony van Dyck
Flemish, 1599 ‑ 1641
Portrait of a Woman, about 1635
Oil on canvas
29 1/2 ×23 inches (74.9 × 58.4 cm)
Museum purchase, Preston Pope Satterwhite Fund

 

About the painting’s donor

In an important milestone for the Speed in 1941, Dr. Preston Pope Satterwhite gave the museum his collection of 15th- and 16th-century French and Italian Decorative Arts tapestries and furniture.

Satterwhite was born in 1867 Great Neck, N.Y., but lived in Louisville until he was 25, when he moved to New York to complete his medical internship and residency, according to the Encyclopedia of Louisville. He became a successful surgeon and well-known art collector. His ancestors, the Breckinridges and Prestons, were early settlers in Kentucky. Satterwhite died in New York in 1948.

Satterwhite monument
Temple of Love

He and his wife are buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in one of the most elaborate memorials there. Erected in 1928 of pink Italian marble, the “Temple of Love” is a copy of Marie Antoinette’s ornate structure in her Petite Trianon garden at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.

Here’s a Find A Grave photo of Satterwhite and his wife, Florence in front of their 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 at their estate in Great Neck.

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