Helen Sclair

December 21, 2009
Helen Sclair, R.I.P.

Helen Sclair's address during the last years of her life will remain unchanged into eternity. A recognized authority on cemeteries and burial practices, Mrs. Sclair lived in a house on the grounds of Bohemian National Cemetery on Chicago's Northwest Side since about 2001. Her cremated remains will rest not far away under a granite stone bearing the inscription, "The Cemetery Lady, An Advocate for the Dead."

Mrs. Sclair, 78, died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday, Dec. 16, in the Harmony Healthcare and Rehab Center in Chicago, where she had been recovering from surgery, said her daughter, Lu Helen Sclair.



Mrs. Sclair lectured around the country to groups like the Association for Gravestone Studies, taught on burial and genealogical related topics at the Newberry Library, and possessed encyclopedic knowledge of Chicago-area cemeteries. Her work also sharpened knowledge of the Immigration patterns that shaped Chicago.

You can read more in the Chicago tribune at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-obit-sclair-bddec20,0,6468565.story.