I recently finished Bill O’Reilly’s book “Killing the Mob”.  It is one of about a dozen books in a series by O’Reilly all with the “Killing” titles. I’ve learned that “Killing” is just the title series and the books are really about the history of people, movements, and time periods.

Of the books I’ve read about include history of President Lincoln, President Kennedy, the American/Japanese battles of World War II, and the history of the American Indians during the 1800’s.  “Killing the Mob” centers its interest on the history of American crime from the days of Bonnie and Clyde all the way into the beginning of the 21st Century.  Like the other books in the series, I found it easy to read, informative, and fascinating history.

During the book there was a chapter on organized crime in the Chicago area during the Prohibition Era of the 1920’s and early 1930’s.  As you may be well aware of that was the day that a purported gangster named Al Capone controlled the streets of Chicago while he sold illegal alcohol in the city.  Capone’s crime sprees eventually got him named “Public Enemy #1” by the forerunner of the FBI and he was eventually convicted of tax evasion on the sales of his illegal products.

Capone ended up serving his sentence in the famous Alcatraz Prison off the coast of San Francisco.  He was released from prison in 1939 and lived out his days on an estate in Miami, Florida, dying on January 25, 1947, at the age of 48 years.

Interestingly enough, I had just finished reading the book when I noticed this article in the Chicago Tribune titled, “Al Capone’s final days, death in Florida and burial in Chicago — why we remember it 75 years later“.  So, we just passed the 75th anniversary of Capone’s death in Miami and on February 4, 2022, we will see the 75th anniversary of his burial in Chicago. . . .It’s an interesting story.  (By the way, the linked article contains about 30 photos of Capone’s life, including photos of his burial and purported death care transportation from Miami to Chicago).

According to the article, upon Capone’s death, Chicago funeral director Louis Rago flew to Miami to “oversee care of Capone’s body and prepare it for transport to Illinois.”  There was a wake in a Miami Beach funeral home where, according to the article, Capone’s body was in a $2,000 (1947 price) Bronze casket and “unidentified” visitors came and went by the “back door”.

The body was then transported to Chicago — although it is unknown if it was transported by train or vehicle.  The article contains photos of an enclosed casket transport on a train and another photo of the casket arriving at the Illinois Central Station in Chicago, but said to be labeled under a woman’s name.  The Chicago Tribune reported that regardless of how the body arrived in Chicago, “It is probable the body will be delivered to Rago’s chapel at 624 N. Western av.”

There is no record of a funeral service or wake for Capone in Chicago, but the linked article contains several photos of the graveside service at Mount Olivet Cemetery.  Capone’s body was laid to rest in a family plot next to his father, Gabriel, and his brother, Frank.  One of the photos shows “gravediggers” carrying the casket to the grave.  Temperature on this day in Chicago was near zero.

Interestingly, according to the article, there is also a grave marker for Capone at Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Hillsdale, Illinois.  The information on that grave is private the Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago told the Chicago Tribune.  However, it is believed that the remains of the famous gangster were moved to that cemetery in the 1950’s.

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Tennessee residents receive $47.5 million in federal Covid funeral assistance.  The Times News (TN)
• Funeral home director Tim Thompson followed in his father’s footsteps.  Times Recorder (OH)
• Crematorium donates US $16,000 to “fantastic’ Andover and south-east charities.  Andover Advertiser (Great Britain)
• Mounties in Nova Scotia search for cremation urn stolen in recent break-in.  Toronto Star (Canada)
• Funeral industry demand increase – shortage of funeral caskets.  The Washington Independent

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