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Description
Airplane funeral of Charles J. Abrames. The first airborne hearse flown by Johnny C. Johnston from Garden City Flying Field to Oak Hill Cemetery. The undertaker, C. M. Stout, was also a passenger on the plane. Photocopy of newspaper article on back of photo includes headline "Airplane Funeral of C. J. Abrames" from January 27, 1920, though the article is more recent: "Charles J. Abrames made history in 1920 when his was the first airplane funeral conducted at Oak Hill Cemetery. Abrames, 34, an Army war aviator gassed in France during World War I, died January 24, 1920. He requested his body be flown to his grave by aviator Johnny Johnston. Pallbearers strapped the flower-strewn casket to the plane at Garden City flying field on Alum Rock Avenue, January 26. Upon landing in an undeveloped part of the cemetery, the plane taxied to the grave site. Arrangements for the unique funeral were under the direction of undertaker Thomas Monahan. Although reported in the San Jose newspaper, Oak Hill has no record of the burial and the photograph by J. D. Gordon provides no clue as to the burial site. (The Gordon photography collection is now at San Jose State University.)"
Type
image
Format
Black & White, Copy Print
Identifier
2DBC54E2-CFF7-416D-B5BC-146781576036 2004-17-1346
Subject
Funeral rites & ceremonies Airplanes Biplanes Air pilots (LCSH) Oak Hill Cemetery (San Jose, Calif.) Nineteen twenties (LCSH) Abrames, Charles J Johnston, Johnny Stout, C. M
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