Cemetery Memories and Joey Ramone

The grave of punk rock legend Joey Ramone (aka Jeff Hyman)

As I attempted to snap a photo with my iPhone of the zinc Civil War soldier's grave marker I just stumbled upon in Palisades Cemetery, I got the dreaded warning that I was out of memory space! I ended up dicking around with my phone to free up space so I could capture more photos, along with some videos. (As an aside, if you’ve never heard the song Dick Around by the rock band Sparks, you need to listen to it here!

If you’ve never experienced such frustration, I envy you. It is not something you want to deal with in ninety-degree heat, or if you’ve just travelled a hundred miles to take photos (or both). This in fact occurred not twenty minutes from the time I first pulled into this cemetery, after finding that the memory card in my old Olympus PEN E-P1 (micro four-thirds) digital camera was full. 

Palisades Cemetery, Weehawken, NJ

I had slammed on the brakes in the shade of a tree just as I pulled in through the entrance gate, as there was a gorgeous mausoleum here with a marble angel statue on top. I have a 200mm telephoto zoom on this camera, which I brought for this specific purpose (you can’t zoom to a distant object with a camera phone – the zoom is digital, not optical, so you lose resolution quickly). I screwed with the camera and card, thinking maybe the write protect switch had gotten moved, but just could not get it to accept an exposure. Dead in the water. 

Gate relic of family plot, Palisades Cemetery

It was not like I could just go find a Walgreens and buy another SD card – I discovered a week ago that this camera is so old (2009 technology) that it’s internal processor can only handle a card with a maximum storage capacity of 16GB. I had filled up a card a couple weeks ago and was too lazy to download the images to my laptop, so I just ordered the cheapest, lowest capacity card available (120GB) online. This did not work. After the good folks at WebbCam (in Philadelphia) explained the problem to me, they sold me an old, used 8GB card, which worked fine. Kind of low capacity, and I hadn’t realized that I had filled it up so quickly. Standing in front of this mausoleum, it would not accept any new images. So, I threw the Olympus in the trunk and figured I would order some low-capacity SD cards when I got home. 

Gabba Gabba Hey!

Palisades Cemetery in Weehawken, New Jersey (near the Meadowlands sports complex), was actually my second stop. It wasn’t even on my to-do list. I just stumbled upon it as I found it across the street from my actual destination, Weehawken Cemetery (it may actually be a part of Weehawken Cemetery, depending on whether you use Google Maps or the Find-a-Grave ap). There were several zinc monuments there, along with some dynasty plots still bordered with original Victorian-era metal gates and fencing (unusual to see this). First stop, and my primary destination, was New Mount Zion Cemetery in nearby Lyndhurst, NJ, to visit the grave of punk rock legend Joey Ramone (a.k.a. Jeff Hyman). Joey, vocalist for the band The Ramones, died in 2025. (His solo album, “Don’t Worry About Me,” is wonderful, by the way, in case you’ve never heard it. In fact, he’s recorded the best version of What a Wonderful World in the known galaxy! Click to hear.)

Joey (Jeff) Ramone (Hyman)'s dad, Noel

Joey is buried in the New York Social Club plot in Lyndhurst's New Mount Zion Cemetery. New Mount Zion occupies the southern quarter of Hillside Cemetery (which also has several zinc monuments). Joey's dad, Noel, is buried next to Joey. Noel's companion was Nancy Lerner ("My Beloved Nancy"), and Noel's wife Charlott Mandell Lesher - also buried in this cemetery - was Joey's mom.

So I wanted to find Joey’s grave, pay my respects, and make a few photos and videos, which I did. There were a few interesting things in Hillside Cemetery (several zinc monuments), and there is a great diner near the Orient Way entrance to the cemetery, Colonial Diner, if you need a quick bite or a pit stop. You can almost picture the Ramones crammed into one of the red booths here in 1976, right? Jersey diners are the best!

When I left Palisades Cemetery to head over to the Meadowlands, I realized I never even went to Weehawken Cemetery across the street! Ah well, it didn’t really look that interesting. When I mapped out this area, my goal was first and foremost, Joey’s grave, and then any Victorian-era cemetery in the area. There appeared to be three over by the Meadowlands, a few miles away – Weehawken, Flower Hill, and Hoboken cemeteries. So off to Hoboken Cemetery in North Bergen, New Jersey, I drove – knowing full well that I had little or no media on which to record anything. I hadn’t even brought a film camera!

If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. Maybe all the gods just hated me that day. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope." However, I think I just screwed up. I was ill-prepared. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Gabba, gabba, hey. Had I taken to heart the words of the great philosopher Charles Manson, “Total paranoia is total awareness,” I would have been better off. Would have checked the storage space on all my gear, battery life, and so on. I already knew that I had run out of film last week, so I didn’t even bring my Leica SLR film camera. Sigh. So with all this poor planning in mid-July, 2026, I drove two hours from Philadelphia in an attempt to blitz several cemeteries in North Jersey.

Hoboken Cemetery, NJ

After leaving Palisades, I hit these other nearby cemeteries that definitely warranted more time and memory than I had. Almost every image I shot at Flower Hill Cemetery had to be preceded by my freeing up iPhone storage by deleting aps or text messages with image files attached. Certainly sucked the joy out of exploring these new places. Hoboken Cemetery, next to the opulent gorgeousness of Flower Hill, was in poor condition. The grass was cut, but the tombstones were knocked over, the bronze elk from the B.P.O.E. (Elks) monument had either been removed or stolen – the place was kind of desolate and in a shambles. Not to mention mountainous. 

Pyramid mausoleum, Flower Hill Cemetery

Missing Bronze Elk

To say that Flower Hill and Hoboken cemeteries were built into a hillside is a rather mild description of these steep properties. The land grades up almost immediately after you enter either property by their separate Tonnelle Avenue entrances. I didn’t realize that I entered both from the rear (pun intended) until I drove up the steeply hilled properties to the upper ridge of Flower Hill where the magnificent mausoleums sat (right off John F. Kennedy Boulevard). I spent about a half hour walking amidst these structures with their amazing stained glass windows, statuary, and sculpted granite sphinxes. I realized I should have brought my Canon G11 point-and-shoot zoom camera to get better images of these amazingly colorful windows. Not bringing that super versatile pocket camera was not just stupid, it was stupid on stilts. Sigh.

Mausoleum window, Flower Hill

So in actuality, it seems that you enter Hoboken Cemetery from its main entrance off Tonnelle Avenue, but you should enter Flower Hill from it's main entrance on John F. Kennedy Boulevard. The dark green Flower Hill gatehouse is quite a lovely piece of architecture itself – I did not get a photo as I only noticed it as I was leaving - and a funeral procession was entering at the same time I was trying to merge into the steady stream of traffic. As I shot by a White Castle burger joint, I lamented having gotten that tuna hoagie at Colonial Diner. I LOVE White Castle burgers! 

I am contemplating a trip back here at some point, but honestly, the traffic is so dense and congested in the area that it makes driving such a chore. I was there just two days before the FIFA World Cup Final soccer match was to be held at the Meadowlands – I could not image what the traffic would be like around here at that point! This entire area is close to the highway leading to the Lincoln Tunnel so I would strongly suggest visiting these places on a weekend. If you do so during a weekday, avoid being on the roads anytime during rush hour. Or during road construction. Or a traffic accident. 

Intensely-designed fireman's monument, Flower Hill Cemetery

Pieta, Flower Hill

So much of my life revolves around memory. I photograph cemeteries, which is all about memory. I’m 65 years old, so I’ve got all my personal memories. Plus there is recording media - memory! I remember decades ago standing in line at Best Buy with an armload of blank CDs, blank audio cassettes, and blank VHS tapes. I remember thinking at the time, “This is weird. I’m standing in line here ready to spend all this money on memory.” Twenty-five years later, its still all about memory. Why is the act of recording things so important to humans? What are the broader implications? 

Maybe its to help us correct our future behavior. The liminal moments I experienced on this trip will hopefully benefit me – at least until I learn how to go back in time to warn myself about the future. How about I pack an extra memory card and free up space on my phone? Take a film camera for backup?  Also, why is it that I always find myself driving past a White Castle burger joint when I’m not hungry? How about, on my next trip, I look for nearby White Castle fast food places ahead of time and plan to stop at one for lunch or dinner? Then, I'm guessing, all the world would be happier in relative terms and we can all join in singing the Ramones' We're a Happy Family! (Click link to listen.)

Ace Frehley's Grave

What would a Fourth of July celebration be without fireworks? And what better fireworks display to witness than Ace Frehley’s 2007 Dunkin Donuts television commercial? Easily one of the best television commercials EVER, assuming you’re a KISS fan. Here’s a link to the commercial on YouTube, to refresh your memory.

Still from Ace Frehley Dunkin Donuts commercial (2007)

If you’ve ever attended a KISS concert, you know that pyrotechnics were a big part of the band’s stage show. Firepots, explosions, flashing lights were de rigueur, and Ace Frehley, the lead guitarist, had his guitar rigged up to shoot sparks! It’s difficult not to feel all that excitement standing in front of Ace’s final resting place. This past June, I visited his crypt at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, NYC. 

Ace, or rather Paul Frehley, died in 2025. He was 74 years old. Hard to picture him at 74. The first time I saw him perform with KISS was in 1974, when he was just 23. That’s kind of how I pictured him for many years, face made up in his painted-on mask, spaceman costume, sunburst 3-pickup Les Paul, and more swagger than you could possibly imagine. The epitome of a lead guitarist in a dynamic rock band. Of course, none of the band members ever appeared to age, as they performed with the same painted faces for many years. Time is a challenging dimension.

Fans leave offerings, as you can see in my photos. No graffiti, all very tasteful. I brought an old guitar pick of mine, which I left on the artificial blue rose someone had left standing against his crypt cover. The pick was one I’d had since the 1970s, so it had the relevance of bringing me back to an era when I first saw KISS in 1974.

Here’s a short Instagram video of me placing the pick. I was rather shocked at how many “likes” I got when I posted this the day after I shot it. My IG feed (@mourningarts) is all cemetery-related images and videos. I typically get about 54 likes on each of my daily posts, mainly from cemetery nerds like me. The day I posted this video, I got 3,316 likes! A few days later, this was up to 8,855. Obviously, Ace touched a number of lives in his career with KISS and then as a solo artist after that. I have nothing but respect for the man.

Many people (literally hundreds) commented on the video in the first days it was posted, and most comments were positive and appreciative. A few people took issue with the fact that I left a Fender pick, thinking it was an insult to Ace, who mainly played Gibson electric guitars. The KISS Army is not to be trifled with. I’ve been playing guitar since around 1970, and I’ve never seen a Gibson guitar pick. I see them now on the Internet, but I’ve never seen one in real life or in a guitar store for sale. So, to be clear, this was not meant as an insult. My pick just had sentimental value to me. 

When I saw KISS the first time in September 1974 in a theater in Wilkes-Barre, PA, they were an opening act for Blue Oyster Cult. I was a huge fan of both bands, mainly as a result of buying their records (KISS had just released their first album) and reading about them in Creem magazine. KISS appeared on Don Kirchner’s Rock Concert and ABC’s In Concert, the late night concert television shows that pre-dated MTV, so people did have some idea of how wild their stage show was. As an aside, there was actually a lesser-known act that opened that show before KISS came on – they were a three-piece Canadian noise band called Rush. They had just released their first album as well, but the audience didn’t care. Rush was pretty bad – Led Zeppelin wannabes. Who knew that Rush would evolve into one of the world's most popular and successful prog bands? 

I had to sneak off to that show. I was 15 at the time and my parents did not want me to go, since I couldn’t even tell them when the show would end (concerts did not have 11 p.m. legal curfews then as they do now, so shows ran to all hours). I don’t recall the details, exactly, but I seem to remember “going to bed early,” climbing out the window of my second-floor bedroom, shimmying down the rain gutter, and walking the four miles to the Paramount Theater in Wilkes-Barre! I had to go - after all, I had already purchased the $6.00 concert ticket! I reversed the procedure after the show, getting home who knows when, with my parents never knowing that I was gone. Not quite as exciting as the movie, Detroit Rock City, but it was a coming-of-age adventure for me nonetheless!

That year KISS’s popularity grew so fast that they returned as headliners to the same theatre in Wilkes-Barre only two months later (December, 1974). I went to this show as well, this time with my brother Tim (who provided some of these show date facts). As I said, concerts did not have a hard stop at 11 p.m. back then, and I seem to remember this one running past 1:00 a.m.! 

Garden Conservatory Mausoleum

Finding Ace’s final resting place was nearly as challenging as getting to that first KISS concert. Once I found out he was a resident, I needed to visit. After a few attempts on the Internet to locate him, I saw that he was in a community mausoleum. Woodlawn has four of these, so I needed to do more searching. To add to the confusion, his parents are interred in a different community mausoleum in Woodlawn, and I believe there was some speculation that Ace’s body was placed in an unmarked crypt below those of his parents. However, Ace resides in the Garden Conservatory Mausoleum. He’s a bit difficult to find, this being a large building. Based on some photos I found on the Internet posted by previous visitors, I was able to find him after about twenty minutes of searching. Through the front doors, past the other spaceman (the white marble angel in the center of the building), and toward a rear corridor of the building. For video guidance to Ace’s crypt, you can watch this video, which I found after I visited, unfortunately. Would have saved me some time.

So why all the fuss? Why do fans want to visit? Why are they so intrigued by the video I posted? Most likely, these are people - from all over the world - whose lives were touched in some way by Ace. And visiting his grave, albeit vicariously, is a way to thank him and pay their respects. There are a lot of famous people at Woodlawn who I did not visit. I’m not a celebrity stalker. But I did visit the graves of a few well-known people whose work touched my life in some way. One of whom was Dorothy Parker, who lived in New York in the 1920s and was a theater critic. Her finely crafted prose was clever and often biting. I think of her line almost every morning when I walk into work and ask myself, “What fresh hell is this?” So of course, I visited her grave. 

If you visit Ace, or any grave at Woodlawn, do be respectful. There may be mourners there visiting their loved ones, and people grieve in their own way. When I was in the Garden Conservatory Mausoleum, an old guy was slow dancing in front of a crypt while holding his cell phone, which was playing Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.” Music is often such a big part of our lives, and our memories. My brother Tim found this YouTube video of a fellow who visited Ace's final resting spot recently. He mentions some of his own reminiscences in the video and also leads you through the confusing hallways of the mausoleum right to Ace, which would be helpful should you want to stop in and pay your respects to this talented artist.

Rock ‘n’ Roll all Nite, Ace.