Celebrity Graveland

June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941

It doesn’t get much more “New York” than Hall of Famer Henry Louis Gehrig. He was born in New York. He died in New York. And, he played 17 seasons for the New York Yankees. As a player, Gehrig was outstanding. With a career batting average of .340, the left-handed first baseman was a 7-time All-Star, won six World Series titles won the Triple Crown in 1934 and set franchise offensive records that stood for more than 70 years. Nicknamed, “The Iron Horse,” Gehrig set one of his most famous records when he played in 2.130 consecutive games – a feat eventually broken by Cal Ripkin, Jr some 56 years later.

Off the field, Gehrig is probably most notably and tragically remembered for being diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) – the disease which would eventually be associated colloquially with his name. He walked away from baseball in 1939 after delivering his iconic “Luckiest man on the face of the Earth” speech at Yankee Stadium. He died of ALS just two years later. He was 37 years-old.

Burial

Kensico Cemetery – Valhalla, NY

Specific Location

Section 93, Lot 12686; On the eastern side of a loop in Ossipee Ave., 2nd row back.

This entry was posted on October 7, 2013 at 2:55 pm and is filed under Kensico Cemetery with tags Baseball, Kensico Cemetery, New York Yankees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.