Statesman, Mayors, governors, industry magnates, heroes and heroines – their stories come alive at Roanoke’s Evergreen Burial Park Sunday, October 13, where many of the area’s noted leaders and historical figures rest in final repose. Their stories – which are that of much of modern Virginia, Roanoke and America – unfold in an annual guided public walking tour of Evergreen’s peaceful, landscaped acres. The tour begins at 2 pm.
Among the notables whose lives and contributions will be recalled include: Bob Slaughter, “A Bedford Boy,” who led the efforts to bring the National D Day Memorial to Bedford. Governor (1958-1962) J. Lindsay Almond, an early advocate of school desegregation; Martha Woodrum Zillhardt, Virginia’s first instrument rated female aviator, founder of Woodrum Flying Service and the first woman president of the Virginia Aviation Trade Council; Carter Burgess, one of many distinguished veterans interred at Evergreen, served as Secretary of the General Staff to European Commander Dwight Eisenhower, and was selected to hand deliver the D Day plans to France’s Charles DeGaulle and, after the War, served in a leading staff position at the conference in San Francisco that established the United Nations; and Sallie Weaver Robertson, who at death at the age of 95 in 1937, was one of the last members of the Real Daughters of 1812, a group dedicated to promoting patriotism.
Other memorials recognize significant events in national history. The Park is also home to the North America Champion Red Buckeye tree.
The family-friendly tour is open to all who enjoy a pleasant Sunday stroll, highlighted by informative insights about people who left indelible marks on Roanoke and Virginia history. The tours will begin at the cemetery offices at 1307 Summit Avenue SW, in the City’s Wasena section. At the end of each tour a multi-colored balloon “spirit” release is planned.