Gill Cemetary

She was 89. Ann Gill: former P&Z chair. Contributed photoBorn in New York City on Feb. 16, 1929, she was the daughter of Francis W Collins, Sr. and Lillian A Collins (nee Schaeffler). She was predeceased by her brother, Francis W Collins, Jr., and by her husband of 63 years, Edward B. Gill.She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1951 with a B.S. in horticulture and was an active member of Delta Zeta sorority throughout her life. She received an advanced degree in teaching from Western Connecticut State University and subsequently taught fifth grade in Trumbull for seven years.The town of Westport meant a lot to Ann, and she was very involved in various organizations and committees. She served eight years on the Planning and Zoning Commission, two of them as chair.She was also the hearing officer for the Conservation Commission, and served on the board of directors and as treasurer of the Westport Library Riverwalk (Remembrance Park). She was very active in town government, the school PTA, Girl Scouts and the League of Women Voters. She was a proud Republican and was involved in several town-related Republican groups and committees throughout her life.When she was not busy with Westport’s organizations, she enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren, visiting with her many dear friends, and keeping up with current events. She loved plants and flowers and tending to her outdoor space at home. Each year her yard was bursting with color, fragrance and textures. She also loved jigsaw puzzles, with one always in progress on the side table in her home. She was a die-hard fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers and subsequently the New York Mets, as well as the New York Jets, and UConn Women’s Basketball. She was a longtime member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.Ann will be tremendously missed by her two children and their spouses, four grandchildren, one granddaughter-in-law, one great-grandchild, many nieces and nephews and countless wonderful friends. Service arrangements are private.D...

Aretha Franklin's funeral procession advanced up Seven Mile Road toward her final resting place in the main mausoleum of Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery. The interment was closed to the public, but outside the gates was a frenzy of media, celebrity and fan activity. Now, two weeks after the event, the halls of the mausoleum are largely silent. Every once in a while, a fan or two wanders in to pay respects, treating the room with the reverence of a saint's tomb. Woodlawn is one of the city's most prominent cemeteries. Auto barons Edsel and Eleanor Ford are buried there, as are civil rights luminaries Rosa Parks and Aretha Franklin's father, the Rev. C. L. Franklin. That this is the Queen of Soul's final resting place is no surprise. Each room on the mausoleum's bottom floor, where Franklin is entombed, is made of a different color marble. The room containing Franklin and her father is white marble. Next door, the room one attendant called the ...

A granite obelisk marks Kentucky's 11,000-square-foot burial ground for Confederate soldiers on the west side of the Pewee Valley Cemetery.  A lone Confederate flag hangs limply on a flagpole in the quiet grounds off the town's Maple Avenue. Small headstones in the ground mark graves of about 300 men who lived in a nearby home for Confederate veterans in the early 1900s. The soldiers' final resting place does not seem to be as controversial as Confederate monuments, like the one that was moved two years ago from University of Louisville's campus to a town about 40 miles away. In fact, Pewee Valley's Confederate grave site lies relatively undisturbed, aside from the occasional grounds maintenance.   As the nation considers what to do with its Confederate statues, one...