Domingo Ghirardelli, the famed chocolatier, came to San Francisco during the Gold Rush years and made his fortune not from panning for gold, but by provisioning miners with cocoa and fruit brought from South America. Years after his success he built this mausoleum in Mt. View Cemetery. Angered that a priest did not give his granddaughter last rites, he and his sons stole into St. Mary's Cemetery next door and moved the bodies of family members to the mausoleum. His final snub of the Church was to put a masonic symbol on the entry. It is placed between the two wreaths on the lintel. Read the delightful website Lives of the Dead by Michael Colbruno for a fuller biography of Ghirardelli.
Linking to Taphophile Tragics.
Point of Infinity
5 weeks ago