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"I am a real ham. I love an audience. I work better with one. I am dead, in fact, without one." ~ Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball

Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills*

Lucille Ball died six months after I moved to Los Angeles. Like millions of people, I loved Lucy, too. What a shock. Hers was the first Certified Legend Death that I experienced here, up close and personal in the sense that I could go to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and witness the floral memorials and sign the scroll, drive past her Beverly Hills home, take in all the local breaking news reports, tributes and marathon I Love Lucy episode airings. I was a NBC Page at the time, and a few months after her death I worked on the taping of the television special that her good friend Bob Hope produced in her honor. Working on Hope productions was something I always enjoyed doing. Not this time.

*Lucy's cremated remains were originally interred at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, alongside her mother, Desiree "Dede" Ball, who passed away in 1977. On July 1, 2002, Daily Variety columnist Army Archerd revealed that Lucie Arnaz and Desi Jr. had come to Los Angeles to send the ashes of both their mother and grandmother back to their hometown of Jamestown, New York. Lucy and Dede were buried with other family members at Lake View Cemetery.

Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Columbarium of Radiant Dawn | November 2001

Walk of Fame Floral Tributes | April 1989

The name plate on Lucy's original niche, seen below, was removed and to-date the space has remains empty, or at least unmarked if it has been re-sold.

Former Niches of Lucille (left) and Dede (right) Ball | March 2006

Lucy's widower, actor Gary Morton, passed away in March 1999, and his cremated remains were reportedly returned to the family with no interment confirmation. Desi Arnaz died in December 1986, and his ashes were scattered.

This news item ran on The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center website in early July 2002:

Lucille Ball Returns Home

JAMESTOWN, NY---The family of Lucille Ball has transferred her cremated remains and those of her mother, Desiree (DeDe) Eveline Hunt Ball from Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills, California, to Jamestown, New York, the birthplace of both women.

Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr. are quoted as saying that their mother's wishes were only "to be buried along side her mother, DeDe."

"We have become quite attached to the people of Jamestown and the surrounding Chautauqua area in the past year while creating the new not-for-profit Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, Inc. to take over management of The Lucy-Desi Museum there," the Arnaz children said.

Lucie and Desi, Jr. have been discussing the possible move with other members of the family since they both performed in Jamestown last August.

In Jamestown, the remains of both Ms. Ball and her mother will be interred in the beautiful Hunt-Ball tree-shaded family plot at Lake View Cemetery joining several generations of Lucille's ancestors including Henry Durrell Ball, her father and DeDe's husband who died on February 28, 1915, when Lucy was only three.

It is the family's hope that this transfer will facilitate an easier way for fans and visitors of The Lucy-Desi Museum, located in downtown Jamestown, to pay their respects to the Lucy they loved.

Ms. Arnaz also noted that her father, Desi Arnaz, Sr., died on December 2, 1986. He was cremated and his remains were scattered at sea in front of his home in Baja, California. A plaque was placed in his honor at the base of the local church there.

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Additional Links of Interest

IMDb.com film credits and biography

Wikipedia reference page

Official Lucille Ball Website

The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, NY

FindAGrave.com Posthumous Reunion: I Love Lucy cast

PBS American Masters: Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball Media at Amazon.com

Lucille Ball Memorabilia on Ebay

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