Chapel of the Pines Crematory is a crematory and columbarium located at 1605 South Catalina Street, Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California, in the West Adams District a short distance southwest of Downtown. It is beside Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, one street east, at the southwest corner of Catalina and Venice Boulevard.
Established in 1903, this domed structure, which looks like an observatory, provides crematory services and columbarium inurnment. It is the final resting place for the cremains of a number of noted persons.
In addition to the multiple columbaria that are open to the public for visitation, there are five vaults in the basement of the crematory that are closed to the public. These vaults house the cremains of over 10,000 individuals. Cremains were placed in vaultage for a variety of reasons, including those that were unclaimed, the inability for family to pay for a public niche or the deceased or their family choosing for a private inurnment location. Most, but not all, of these cremains have been placed in copper box urns with name labels affixed to them. Chapel of the Pines ended the practice of storing cremains in the vaults in 2006 and any unclaimed cremains since then are turned over to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner after being held for sixty days. Although vaultage is no longer offered, the vaults are legally considered a tomb and, per California law, removal of cremains from the vaults is considered exhumation of a grave and is not permitted without either permission of the surviving family or a court order.[1]
(Note: This is a partial list.)
Use the following alphabetical links to find someone.
The British Commonwealth War Graves Commission commemorates one Commonwealth serviceman whose ashes are inurned here, a soldier of the Canadian Army of World War I.[2]