Meet us where legendary lives are remembered
On the other side of Roosevelt Road from the Mount Carmel Cemetery and the Al Capone Gravesite is the Queen of Heaven Cemetery. The landscaped grounds of both Hillside cemeteries make up 886 acres of beauty and history among the gravestones and monuments that mark legendary lives.
Visit Mama Celeste
If you’ve ever popped a frozen pizza into the oven, you’ve likely seen a photograph of Celeste Lizio whose image is on the cover of every box of Celeste Pizza.
An immigrant from Southern Italy, “Mama Celeste” started making her famous pizzas in her pizzeria in Chicago in the 1930s. Her pizza was so popular that she eventually focused entirely on supplying other restaurants and grocers in the area before selling her business to Quaker Oats Company.
You can still see Mama Celeste on the pizza boxes and you can visit her grave at the Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside.
Visit the Monument to Our Lady of the Angels
At Queen of Heaven Cemetery, there is a somber and beautiful monument to the victims of a tragic fire. On Monday, December 1, 1958, a fire began in the basement of Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago. Unable to escape the flames and smoke, 92 students and three nuns were killed. The tragedy led to improvements in school fire codes.
Visit a Moment of History
You’ve seen the famous Associated Press photograph of marines raising a United States flag over Iwo Jima, but did you know that there was a flag that came before the famed one in the picture?
Private James “Jim” Michaels was part of the first 40-man combat patrol that was sent to climb Mount Suribachi. Their mission was to raise an American flag to show the marines below that the mountaintop was in U.S. hands. There is a photograph of Pfc. Jim Michaels standing guard as the first flag is raised. It is this moment that caused the cheers from the men below and on the ships near the beach.
Later it was decided a larger flag was needed, and AP Photographer Joe Rosenthal went along to take a picture. Rosenthal snapped the famous shot and propelled himself and the second flag raisers into great fame.
You can visit the gravesite of Pfc. James Michaels at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside.
The cemetery is open from 8am to 7pm seven days a week.
Once a year, Hillside Mayor Joseph Tamburino guides a Village of Hillside Cemetery Tour that covers both the Mount Carmel Cemetery and the Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
There is no cost to visit the Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
There is an office at the Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery where helpful staff will help you find a grave. If you’re specifically looking for Al Capone and his family, see the directions below.
