OBITUARY

Roger Sinclair, Hollywood’s “Godfather of Graving” dies at 83

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(Facebook/Roger Sinclair)

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By Allan R. Ellenberger

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Roger Sinclair, known in grave hunting circles as the “Godfather of Graving,” died this morning it was announced by his close friend Kimberly Eazell: “It’s with heavy, heavy heart this morning that I got the phone call we all dread. My good friend and buddy Roger B. Sinclair and our ‘Godfather of Graving’ has passed peacefully at 6:50 am this morning.”

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Sinclair, who had a wealth of knowledge of celebrity graves and the cemeteries where they resided, had practiced his hobby since the late 1960s. After going to what was then called Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery (now Hollywood Forever), he used the free map they handed out at the flower shop and visited all the celebrities that were marked on it until a friend told him that there were many more that were not listed. From then on, he went back every weekend and walked the cemetery grounds, grave-by-grave, finding obscure and unknown people that were involved in the movie industry and began making his own list. What resulted was multiple binders that he filled with photographs and brief biographies that he would share with anyone who needed to know where some famous star was buried.

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In addition, he attended celebrity funerals whenever possible, including the services for such stars as Rita Hayworth, Bonita Granville and John Carradine.

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A memorial service for Roger Sinclair will be held in January 2015 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale in the Great Mausoleum.

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