Prompt:  Visit a cemetery and talk about your ancestors buried there. Bring their stories to life for your readers.

Most of my McMAHON clan is buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Cook, Illinois.  The family has two plots: one in section 24 and one in section T.

There are five family members buried in section 24:

  • Timothy J McMAHON (my second great-grandfather)
  • Sarah Jane WARD McMahon (my second great-grandmother)
  • Nellie Helen FENNEMA McMahon (Timothy and Sarah’s daughter-in-law)
  • Marie Doris McMAHON (Nellie’s infant daughter)
  • Unknown McMAHON (Nellie’s infant son)

What’s interesting about this site is that this little Irish family is buried among an overwhelming amount of Italian families.  Additionally, my grandaunt told me that everyone is buried near a tree; that was the deal when the plots were purchased.  And so far, she’s right (other family, including my dad, are buried in Elm Lawn Cemetery in Elmhurst, DuPage, Illinois; both family plots are near a tree.)

There are six family members buried in section T:

  • Timothy McMAHON (my third great-grandfather, father to Timothy J. listed above)
  • Margaret RYAN McMAHON (my third great-grandmother, father to Timothy J. listed above)
  • Jeremiah “Jerry” William McMAHON (son of Timothy and Margaret)
  • Nellie McMAHON (daughter of Timothy and Margaret)
  • John Joseph McMAHON (son of Timothy and Margaret)
  • Elizabeth “Lizzie” V McMAHON Francoeur (daughter of Timothy and Margaret)

This group is buried in a mostly (if not all) Irish section of the cemetery.  And of course, they are right by a tree.

There is a family monument on the site in section T, bearing the surname.  Someday, I would like to have all of their names inscribed on the monument.  I would also like to erect a monument at the site in section 24, identical to the one in section T, and with the names of those buried there inscribed.