Marion Dee Yule (1886-1918)

Marion Dee Yule - Plot # L-233, Mt. Tam Cemetery

I drove back up to Mt. Tam this morning to find the gravesite of my great grandmother, Marion.  I was disappointed to find that there was no headstone, nor were there markers for the plot to her left, and two to her right.  I plan on contacting Mt. Tam again to determine if there ever was a headstone, or if it is indeed covered by quite a lot of dirt.  If none exists, I'll acquire a marker and place it on my next visit.  I think that it will be good to have in the event that anyone in a future generation wants to visit (and I hope they will).

I left some flowers, took some photos of the area, and spent a few minutes telling Marion what I was up to and a little bit about her daughter, her grand-children, great-grand-children, and great-great-grand-children.

I wish she could tell me how she came to live in San Francisco, where she found the money to buy a plot of land in Kentfield in 1913 as an unmarried woman, what she planned to do with that land before her life was cut short at the age of 31.  I have so many questions and I'll have to keep searching for the answers.

Partial View of Plot L

View from Plot L

Partial Layout of Plot L

Map of Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery

Grave-hopping

My husband and I went graveyard hopping last Sunday.

After months of waiting, I had finally learned the plot location of my great-grandmother (Marion) at Mt. Tam Cemetery, so we drove up to San Rafael to see it. Unfortunately, there is no plot map and the plot areas aren't clearly marked. After two hours of searching up and down muddy hills, we caved and headed south to the Golden Gate National Cemetery where her husband, my great-grandfather (Paul) is buried. 

Thanks to the organization skills of the US military, we found Paul's gravesite in less than 5 minutes. I left some flowers and took a few pictures. He is buried with his 3rd (possibly 4th) wife, Anna. He served in the US Army and was stationed in Hawaii during the Spanish American War after an injury during basic training left him unable to serve in combat.

I decided to call Mt. Tam Cemetery the following day to follow up and fully expected to be put off again for months.  A lovely woman named Mary-Kay politely took my name and said she call me back later in the day.  I was shocked when she called me the next day to tell me that we were in the right place looking for Marion's grave, but the gophers had dug up dirt that obscured the headstone.  It's now been found and maintenance is going to clean up the area so when I visit again I'll be able to spot it.  I suppose 98 years of no one visiting does that to a grave.  Mary-Kay mailed me the plot map along with a map of the entire cemetery (which I will post because I can't possibly be the only one looking for one).  

I'm terribly excited to visit my great-grandmother's grave in the coming weeks.