Dining with a View to Die For

The smell of spring was in the air but the mood was solemn. The first tone broke and heads lowered. The bugler’s call of “Taps” sounded over the hills. As the final note faded from his horn, another tone arose in the distance. The gathered crowd turned to the north. A quarter of a mile away, on another high hill, a second bugler played “Taps” once more. This was the funeral of Parson James Wornom on April 22, 1922 and the founding of the Verdugo Hills Cemetery in Tujunga.

He had performed his duties gallantly during the Civil War as part of the 83rd Illinois Infantry and a squad from the American Legion stood by with their rifles for a final volley. After the war, James became an itinerant preacher of the Free Methodists. In 1902, he found his way to Sunland. From his church, in the middle of today’s Sunland Park, he was a spiritual presence for decades. From his wagon, he and his wife Jennie regularly traveled far and wide, saving souls where they found them.

Jennie stood nearby as local poet and playwright John Steven McGroarty stepped forward. 

“Here now, among these uplifted hills, the Parson shall sleep until Gabriel blows his horn on the last Great Day, and the immemorial dead rise again,” he said.

  The grand orator continued, “And, when he awakes, it shall be in no alien place but in a spot well known to him and where he was beloved. Here he praised God on winding trails in the golden dawns and evening’s purpled dusk. The world may change, as it will. Times may change and men with them, but these great mountains will not. As they are now, so shall they be when the trumpet sounds.”

Since the Parson’s burial, some 2000-plus souls have been laid to rest at the Verdugo Hills Cemetery. Burials ended following the infamous rainstorm and landslide of 1978 when countless caskets and bodies crashed down from the cemetery’s hill, inundating the neighborhoods below. In his autobiography, coroner Thomas Noguchi gave a testament to the infamy of the landslide. His chapters reflect his notorious cases, including those of Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Kennedy, Sharon Tate, John Belushi and the Verdugo Hills Cemetery.

Following the landslide, the State of California intervened. After numerous legal battles, it closed down the cemetery and converted the funeral home into a caretaker’s cabin. Through the mid-90s, the state paid a handful of live-in caretakers but it seems there were always problems. After a final eviction in March of 1996, the gates were locked and the future didn’t look bright for the little cemetery on the hill.

At this point, two sisters who had a loved one buried within the grounds gained entry. They began to water the trees and kept their eyes open for trouble. They brought in their friend Mary Lou Pozzo to lend a hand and just months later the sisters moved away leaving a surprised Mary Lou with the keys to the cemetery.

Mary Lou stepped up to the plate. She made contact with the state and, along with her husband Richard, made many improvements and kept a watchful eye for over a decade. When the couple moved back east to be closer to grandchildren, Herrold Egger took over the responsibility as the volunteer caretaker. Herrold passed this honor along to me on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the cemetery’s founding and the burial of the beloved Parson. The state made the volunteer position official and now provides some assistance.

Since then, I have learned about many of the residents through research and have become quite proud of their accomplishments. For this reason, I have decided to invite 50 fortunate guests to attend our fundraiser “Dinner with the Dead” on the evening of Sept. 6 at VHC. For information, visit friendsofverdugohillscemetery.com, click the button and enter your NAME and EMAIL, and DINNER in the message line.