Colma's Cypress Lawn keeps the dead alive

While some find discomfort in interments, staff at the cemetery try to make the end of life not so scary, Nicholas Woodworth, an artist working with the cemetery to tell stories, said. 

“We try as much as possible to show respect,” Woodworth said. “But as time passes, you just can’t be down forever. At some point you have to say you’re celebrating their life and what they represented.” 

Sprawling over 300 acres, Cypress Lawn is an active cemetery still taking in deceased residents to join a community that includes many unclaimed bodies. 

Colma’s history and embraced legacy as the “city of souls” began when in 1901 San Francisco banned new burials within the city and felt its cemeteries were located on prime land apt for housing or other uses. 

Today, a seemingly-empty grassy hill at Cypress Lawn covers the remains of 35,000 individuals who were previously buried in San Francisco and unclaimed. 

Around this time of year, Cypress Lawn undoubtedly draws a crowd of mischievous thrill seekers who play into the perceived morbidness of Colma. Families from nearby cities sometimes come to Colma to trick-or-treat in surrounding neighborhoods with cemeteries in the background. 

After Oct. 31, there are holidays that also draw a crowd, but for different reasons. Day of the Dead, otherwise known as Qingming festival in China and Dia de los Muertos in Mexico, is celebrated in both countries and by members of both cultures. 

The celebration by both cultures commemorates their ancestors, a note taken by Cypress Lawn staff who wish to embody a similar sentiment about the dead. 

“All of this isn’t for them really, it’s for us,” Woodworth said, referring to the internal processing that occurs during burial ceremonies and other rituals conducted after someone’s passing. 

Telling the stories of those who have died is always the underlying goal of any event, tour or fundraiser hosted by Cypress Lawn. The night tour just adds an after-hours flare to the storytelling. 

On the night tour, visitors will hear stories of murder and mystery through the experience of real-life people. Each guest is provided their own detective kit to solve the mystery of how Joseph Paul Cretzer planned his escape from Alcatraz in 1946. 

San Francisco’s first ever detective, Isaiah Lees, is kept at Cypress Lawn in an indoor mausoleum. Lees died in 1902, initially buried in San Francisco and was moved over to Cypress Lawn in the 1920s. 

Lees was said to spearhead modern and advanced police techniques, becoming an early expert in fingerprint and handwriting analysis. His legacy helps inspire the tour around the cemetery, Woodworth said. 

During the tour, guests hear stories of more than 20 individuals who rest at Cypress Lawn. 

Once the president of the Northern California Hells Angels in the mid-1970s, Harry Flamburis was shot execution-style along with his girlfriend. He is now buried with his Harley Davidson — an act done without any questions, of course, because of the influence of the notorious outlaw motorcycle club. Flamburis and his girlfriend’s murder remains unsolved. 

Buried in a separate part of the cemetery is Peter Pan, one of the victims of the Night Stalker, or Richard Ramirez, the prominent serial killer who murdered at least 15 individuals from 1984 to 1985. Peter Pan and his wife Barbara Pan were both shot dead by Ramirez, and a shoe print left at the scene was a key to detectives catching the serial killer. 

“It was two San Francisco detectives that figured out who Richard Ramirez was,” Woodworth said. “We talk about the importance of these detectives and what they did to figure these clues out.” 

One of the favorite stories to tell by Cypress Lawn staff is about Phineas Gage.

A railroad construction foreman, Gage was distracted one day while at work when a large iron rod was driven completely through his head. Despite the traumatic injury, Gage lived for another 12 years with a hole in his head. 

“You could literally touch through the top and through the bottom,” Woodworth said. “He had this fungus that would grow out, a broccoli kind of growth. 

Gage’s skull and iron bar is on display at a museum at Harvard Medical School. Cypress Lawn is home to the rest of his body. 

“We have our own headless horseman,” Woodworth said. 

Keeping alive the stories of those buried or honored at Cypress Lawn is not only critical in preserving the sanctuary for the dead by raising money, but also in keeping residents, loved ones and guests keenly aware of the sobering fact that everyone ends up in the same place. 

Though murders and mayhem are at the forefront of the night tour, the death of Claus Spreckles — the “Sugar King” who built a monopoly of Hawaiian sugar production — also provides a serious threat to life that everyone should keep in mind.

“The number one killer is diabetes,” Woodworth said.

The final day the night tour will be offered this season is Saturday, Nov. 1. Visit www.cypresslawnheritagefoundation.org for more information.