Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Silver Spring, Maryland)


Gate of Heaven Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Aspen Hill section of Silver Spring, Maryland, in the United States. It is operated and maintained by the Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Washington, Inc. At the time of the cemetery's consecration in 1956, it was the first Roman Catholic archdiocesan cemetery to open in the Washington metropolitan area in 70 years. The grounds of Gate of Heaven Cemetery are centered around a series of internal roads and pathways, which in combination, form the shape of the Latin Cross.

About the cemetery

The District of Columbia was founded in 1791, and initially several small Roman Catholic cemeteries were established in the city. The last of these, St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery on Lincoln Road NE, was organized in 1870. Despite the rapid growth in the city's population during the next 70 years, no new Catholic cemeteries were organized within the Archdiocese of Washington. The Right Reverend Monsignor Edward L. Buckley of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle was aware of the need to plan ahead, however, and began advocating for the purchase of land for a new burying ground. In 1928, the Catholic Cemetery Association, a private, nonprofit organization, which purchased land for the creation of Catholic cemeteries, purchased of land from the Rabbitt family in Montgomery County, Maryland. The intent was to name the new cemetery "New Mount Olivet," after its District of Columbia–located Mount Olivet Cemetery, although no name was ever formally adopted.
By 1955, it was clear that a new cemetery was sorely needed in the Archdiocese of Washington. The Catholic Cemetery Association transferred its title to this land to the archdiocese, and a new cemetery, named Gate of Heaven, was established. Gate of Heaven Cemetery was laid out around a roadway which was designed in the shape of a cruciform and was lined with trees. Four roughly rectangular sections extend from each side of this cruciform-shaped roadway. Life-size Stations of the Cross were placed at intervals in this central section. All of the roadways were named for saints, and numerous shrines to saints were spread amongst the cemetery's 28 sections. A 100-seat chapel was constructed at the center of the cruciform-shaped roadway. The cemetery's main gate is particularly notable. It features large wrought iron gates set in masonry pylons high and wide. Just inside and to the right of the main gate was a small caretaker's cottage made of stone. The cemetery was dedicated on June 17, 1956, by the Most Reverend Patrick O'Boyle, Archbishop of Washington.
Gate of Heaven Cemetery began receiving interments at the beginning of July 1956.

Cemetery grounds

The perimeter of Gate of Heaven Cemetery is bounded by Georgia Avenue, to the southwest; Connecticut Avenue, to the northwest; Peppertree Lane, Strathmore Local Park, and Strathmore Elementary School, to the northeast; and the Aspen Manor Shopping Center, Beret Neighborhood Conservation Area, and Beret and Bustleton lanes, to the southeast. A portion of the northeast corner of the cemetery was sold in the 1960s or 1970s to the state of Maryland, as a means of raising funds for the trust account that maintains the cemetery. Strathmore Local Park and Strathmore Elementary School were constructed on this land. Gate of Heaven Cemetery only used about half of its acreage when it opened in 1956, and only in the late 1990s began expanding onto its unused land.
Gate of Heaven Cemetery is a traditional lawn cemetery. The burial area is a lawn, with trees and shrubs around the perimeter. Most gravestones are flush with the earth, with only a few above-ground memorials. The cemetery also has several mausoleums for interment, as well as several columbaria.
In addition, Gate of Heaven staff administer St. John's Cemetery, located on the grounds of St. John the Evangelist Parish's Saint John the Evangelist Historic Church, at 9700 Rosensteel Avenue, in the Forest Glen section of Silver Spring.

Notable interments