Jewish Cemeteries

120^th and South Kedzie Avenue
Blue Island, IL 60406
Phone: 708-385-0750
Fax: 708-396-8940

Description of Resources:

Burials from the following synagogues: Congregation Am Echad, Anshe Sholom, Congregation Beth Sholom, Temple B'nai Yeduda. Most of the Jewish burials are in section #11.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are not computerized and are organized alphabetically. Call the office for information regarding a specific individual.

1600 S. Des Plaines Avenue
Forest Park, IL 60130
Phone: 708-366-4541 (Waldheim Cemetery)
Phone: 800-222-4541 (out of IL)

Description of Resources:

Jewish burials from the late 1800s through the present. Total Jewish plus non-Jewish burials are approximately 12,000. The cemetery is a not-for-profit, Fraternal Order Jewish cemetery. The cemetery has two gates and contains the graves of many German Jews.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are not computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery. The records are now being managed by Waldheim Cemetery.

3919 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60613
Phone: 847-279-8115
Fax: 847-279-8116
E-mail: HBENSOC@comcast.net
Mailing Address:
Cathy Eiseman Horwitz
1132 Lockwood Drive
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089

There are four sections that make up the original Jewish Graceland Cemetery.

Gate 1: B'nai Zion (654 burials)
Gate 2: B'nai Shalom, KAM (948 burials)
Gate 3: Hebrew Benevolent Society (1249 burials)
Gate 4: Chevra Kadisha (837 burials)

The two center sections (Gates 2 & 3) are owned by the Hebrew Benevolent Society. The North section (Gate 1) and the South section (Gate 4) are owned by Doris Wess-Evon and described under Jewish Graceland.

Description of Resources:

Jewish burials from 1854 through 2001. Total Jewish burials are estimated at over 1500 with no non-Jewish burials. The cemetery is open by appointment only.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery. The records have been indexed and are also available through the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois. For more information e-mail JewishGraceland@jgsi.org .

3900 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60613
Phone: 312-409-4296
Mailing Address:
JGC Company
P.O. Box 13132
Chicago, IL 60613

There are four sections that make up the original Jewish Graceland Cemetery.

Gate 1: B'nai Zion (654 burials)
Gate 2: B'nai Shalom, KAM (948 burials)
Gate 3: Hebrew Benevolent Society (1249 burials)
Gate 4: Chevra Kadisha (837 burials)

The North section (Gate 1) and the South section (Gate 4) are owned by Doris Wess-Evon and are described here. The two center sections (Gates 2 & 3) are owned by the Hebrew Benevolent Society and are described under Hebrew Benevolent Society.

Description of Resources:

Jewish burials from 1857 through 2000. Total Jewish burials are over 5000 with no non-Jewish burials. The cemetery is open by appointment only.

Access to Records and Fees:

Genealogical records cannot be accessed by telephone. Send a letter to the mailing address above with the names and death dates (if known) of individuals being researched. Also include a $35 research fee and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The check should be made out to Jewish Graceland-Lakeview. For historic information about the cemetery, contact the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois.

9900 Gross Point Road
Skokie, IL 60076
Phone: 847-864-5061
Fax: 847-677-7814

Description of Resources:

The earliest burials (1911) were mainly Norwegians, Swedes, and Germans. Over 50% of current burials, however, are Jewish. Total burials number over 77,000 with an estimated 30,000 of these being Jewish. The largest Jewish group is Anshe Emet Synagogue with four sections. There are also Beth Olam, Menorah, Makom, and Temple Mizpah sections.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are not computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery.

2630 South 17^th Avenue
Broadview, IL 60153
Phone: 708-366-4541
Fax: 708-366-4575
Mailing Address:
1400 Des Plaines Avenue
Forest Park, IL 60130-2598

Description of Resources:

Burials from the 1930s. Operated by Waldheim Cemetery. Number of burials included in Waldheim’s numbers.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery. The telephone number above is the Waldheim office.

5400 N. Pulaski
Chicago, IL 60630
Phone: 773-478-5400
Fax: 773-478-5550

Description of Resources:

The earliest Jewish burial was around 1921 with the most recent one being in 1991. Of the over 83,000, total burials only 75 of them are Jewish.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are not computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery.

6807 N. East Prairie Road
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
Phone: 847-676-1122
Fax: 847-676-1241

Description of Resources:

Jewish burials total over 1500 dating from around 1898 to the present.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are computerized. They include, however, only the name of deceased but not the date of death.

4301 W. Roosevelt Road
Hillside, IL 60162
Phone: 708-344-5600
Fax: 708-344-5658

Description of Resources:

Jewish burials from 1929 through present year. Total Jewish plus non-Jewish burials are approximately 100,000. Less than 20% of the burials are Jewish. Groups with burials here include Jewish War Vets, Chevra Kadisha, Oak Park Temple, and West Suburban Temple.
Also sections for Bella & Sarah Dicker Aid Society, Chevra Kadisha Ezras Nicochim, Federal Fellowship Club, Jewish Brotherhood, Lawn Manor Jewish Community Center, Southtown Hebrew Cong., and Yarmo-Devere Post American Legion

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are partially computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery.

1035 E. 67^th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-288-3800
Fax: 773-228-4960
E-mail: oakwoods@alderwoods.com
Website: www.OakwoodsCemetery.com (history & general info only)

Description of Resources:

Total burials of about 200,000 dating from 1860. Many old burials in the section called "Jewish Oak Woods." Current Jewish burials are in the Eternal Light section. Congregation Rodfei Zedek has a section here. Also contains burials from Congregation Mariampoler-Anshe Sholom Kalvaria and Congregation Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol.

Access to Records and Fees:

Genealogy requests are handled by written request and there is a $10 fee per request. Please note each request "Attention Genealogy Department"

5736-5760 N. Pulaski Road
Chicago, IL 60646
Phone: 847-673-1584

Mailing Address:
6807 N. East Prairie Road
Lincolnwood, IL 60712

Description of Resources:

Jewish burials totaling over 3200 dating from 1896 to the present. Groups here include Temple Beth-El, Independent Order Brith Shalom, Star of David, Congregation B’nai Zion, Society of Benevolent & Relief of Sick, North Park Cemetery Assn., and Kobiner.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery.

5800 N. Ravenswood
Chicago, IL 60660
Phone: 773-561-5940
Fax: 773-989-2194

Description of Resources:

The earliest Jewish burials were in the 1860s and they continue though the present. The cemetery has a total of over 250,000 burials with an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 of them being Jewish. A very large number of Jewish burials are on the southern side of the main cemetery.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are currently being computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery.

6758 West Addison Street
Chicago, IL 60634
Phone: 773-736-2553
Fax: 773-777-1847

Description of Resources:

All the burials here are Jewish. Around 1998 B’nai B’rith (1887), B’nai Jehoshua (1899), Mt. Mayriv (1857) and Isaiah Israel (1886) cemeteries were all brought under the management of Rosemont Park (1933). The dates shown in parenthesis represent estimates of the earliest burials. In addition to the synagogues mentioned above members of KAM (1886) are also buried here.

It is believed that some of the oldest graves in Mt. Mayriv may have been from the first Jewish cemetery which was Chicago City Cemetery (in Lincoln Park). 150 graves were moved from the Chicago City Cemetery to the Southwest corner of Belmont and Clark in 1854. These graves were supposedly moved again to Mt. Mayriv in 1889. There are a number of gravestones in F section at Mt Mayriv that are almost undecipherable which may be these graves. The oldest date that could be read was a death date of 1857.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery.

1700 W. Rand Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Phone: 847-255-3520
Fax: 847-394-5460
E-mail: info@shalom2.com
Website: www.shalom2.com

Description of Resources:

Over 35,000 Jewish burials dating from 1956 through the present. Over 60 Jewish synagogues and organizations have reserved areas here.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery.

1303 S. Des Plaines Avenue
Forest Park, IL 60130
Phone: 708-366-0125
Fax: 708-366-0230

Description of Resources:

Over 26,000 Jewish burials dating from the 1888 through the present.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery.

A number sections of the cemetery have been independently surveyed and recorded as follows:

Tykocin/Ticktin (Gate 58, about 800 burials) in Library of
Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois.

1400 Des Plaines Avenue
Forest Park, IL 60130-2598
Phone: 708-366-4541
Phone: 800-222-4541 (out of IL)
Fax: 708-366-4575
E-mail: office@waldheimcemetery.com
Website: www.waldheimcemetery.com

Description of Resources:

Over 150,000 Jewish burials dating from the 1860s to the present. Waldheim is composed of general sections and almost 250 cemetery sections representing family groups, synagogues, vereins, landsmanshaften, fraternal organizations, and Zionist organizations. A list and map of these cemeteries showing the gates that compose the larger Waldheim, together with information regarding the location of specific graves and other genealogical/historical information, is available at the cemetery office. An alphabetical list of all sections of this and other Chicago Jewish cemeteries is available at the Organizations' Cemetery Sections list.

Access to Records and Fees:

The records are computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning the cemetery. If you have a number of names you are researching, please fax the list of names including your name, address, phone, and fax numbers to the cemetery. The cemetery now takes requests to search for the graves of your family via a form on its website. The cemetery is willing to take photos of graves and e-mail or mail them to you.

A number sections of the cemetery have been independently surveyed and recorded as follows:

Anshe Motele (Gate 40, about 45 family names)
Website: www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/motol/Anshe Motele.htm
Keidaner (Gate 233, about 100 burials)
Website: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/acassel/keidan/tombstones/waldheim.html
Ostrover (Gates 109, 110A, 120, about 338 burials) on JewishGen's JOWBR.
Pavlocher (Gate 228, about 30 burials)
Website: www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/pavoloch/Waldheim.html
Satinover (Gate 115, about 200 burials)
Website: www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Suchostav/Staanov/ChicagoCemetery.htm

7801 W. Montrose Avenue
Chicago, IL 60706
Phone: 773-625-8600
Fax: 773-625-8609

E-mail: westlawncemetery@yahoo.com

Description of Resources:

Over 48,000 Jewish burials dating from 1937 through the present with about 500 per year.

Access to Records and Fees:

Their records are computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning them. Genealogy related question should be addressed to Krista Zadlo, Assistant General Manager and should contain as much information as possible. There are limited resources to address these questions and the staff can address them better in winter. The cemetery is willing to take photos of graves and send them to you.

3600 North Narragansett Ave.
Chicago, IL 60634
Phone: 773-736-2553
Fax: 773-777-1847
E-mail: office@ziongardenscemetery.com
Website: www.ziongardenscemetery.com

Description of Resources:

Zion Gardens Cemetery, previously known as Rosemont Park, is a 50-acre property which includes Mt. Mayriv and Isaiah Israel, B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim and B'nai Brith. The new Management Team is comprised of current executives of the Waldheim Cemetery Company.

Access to Records and Fees:

Their records are computerized and can be best accessed by telephoning them or going to their website a filling out a request form.