Gladys presley1/1/2024 About two weeks later, as most people remember, there was a botched attempt to steal Elvis' remains from the crypt - the exact motive for this has never been revealed - so city officials determined that the bodies of Elvis and his mother, in their matching copper coffins - would be moved to Graceland, where they rest today. So you see, Gladys was actually buried at Forest Hill, and then later her body was placed in the mausoleum. He was placed into a crypt in the Forest Hill Mausoleum, and Gladys was disinterred and placed in the crypt just below his, in a gated room inside the mausoleum. Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. I've never been able to find out much about this monument one source said that members of Elvis' band bought it for him, but I don't know if that's true.Īlmost 20 years later, Elvis died at Graceland, on August 16, 1977. As you can see in the old photo, a very impressive white marble monument, adorned with an angel and cherubs, stood guard over the grave. Her original grave is at the top of a hill, in the older section of the cemetery. After a service at Memphis Funeral Home on Union (since demolished), Gladys was laid to rest in Forest Hill Cemetery, just up the road a bit from Graceland.įor some reason, some Elvis biographers say she was buried just outside the entrance to the old mausoleum at Forest Hill, but that's wrong. Elvis was given a short leave to return home and help his father, Vernon, with the funeral arrangements. She was one of nine children, and she loved to play basketball, dance and listen to music. She was born Gladys Love Smith on April 25, 1912, in Pontotoc County, Mississippi - about 15 miles outside of Tupelo. Gladys best-known trait is right there in her name: Love. Gladys, in poor health for years, died of heart failure on August 14, 1958. Without Gladys Presley, we wouldnt have Elvis Presley. But after that, they're not so sure about things. Most people vaguely familiar with the life of the King of Rock-and-Roll know that his beloved mother died while Elvis was stationed in Germany Texas after being drafted into the Army. Digging through a box of dusty 35mm slides purchased at a Memphis estate sale, I found the usual stuff - family photos, shots of Christmas trees, lots of living rooms and kitchens, and lots and lots and LOTS of pictures of flowers in somebody's garden.Īnd then I found this - a rare photo of Gladys Presley's original gravesite in Forest Hill Cemetery, taken in 1958, judging from the date scribbled on the slide mount.
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