Welcome To Washington Memorial Chapel Cemetery Tour

The Churchyard (Cemetery)

               25 Acres

               Designed in 1911 by landscape architect Thomas Sears

               Open to all

               We are bordered by the Valley Forge National Historic Park

Some of our residents

General Huntington section

The Reverend W. Herbert Burk: Founder of Washington Memorial Chapel

Location: Proceeding west along the upper churchyard drive to where the upper drive turns down to meet the middle drive, on the right (or left as you turn down) is the large Celtic cross marking Burk’s grave.

Location: West of the Burk marker is a large standing marker with the name “GARNER”. To its right is a white, upright marker, “Allerton”.  16 paces behind that are the three D’Ascenzo graves.

Nicola D’Ascenzo(three small tombstones behind GARNER, 16 paces from WOOTEN west of Burk)

Designer of the Washington Memorial Chapel Windows. Born1871  in Torricella Perigna, Italy. Immigrated to the U.S. age 11.  Night classes at PAFA, taught at Pennsylvania Museum School (now University of the Arts).  Married Myrtle Dell Goodwin, another student.  Moved to Italy to study at the Scuola Libera in Rome.  Returned to U.S. in 1896.  Set up interior decorating business and did portraiture. Began dabbling in stained glass.  Starting in 1911, spent summers in Europe studying stained glass in European cathedrals.  In 1921 set up scaffolding in and studied the stained glass in Chartres Cathedral.

Mary Holmes Howson: From Wayne, PA. Graduated from Smith College and as a member of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).  Flying an AT-6 (or possibly a PT-19) Mary died April 16, 1944 in mid-air crash with another student.

Location: Proceeding down the western churchyard drive toward the lower drive on the left (west) about 100 feet in under a holly tree (the only one in the area) is the grave of Mary Howson.