Editorial Type:
Article Category: Editorial
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Online Publication Date: 20 Dec 2023

Visiting Edward Angle’s Gravesite

Page Range: 133 – 135
DOI: 10.2319/1945-7103-94.1.133
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The following is an excerpt from the “Angle Memorial Lecture”, delivered by Dr. Patrick K. Turley at the 45th Biennial Meeting of the Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists, on October 13, 2023, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Preparing to give the Angle Memorial Lecture at the recent Biennial Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I read and reread everything I could get my hands on relating to Edward Angle. The papers and books written by our former Angle Historian, Sheldon Peck, were most enlightening.1,2 The third part of Sheldon Peck’s award-winning article in the Angle Orthodontist ended with a note as to where Angle had been buried. I visited the Angle home and College building in Pasadena, California with Sheldon and Tina Siu, as did other members of the Angle Society Board, as part of our Biennial meeting in 2015 (Figure 1). The cemetery was only a few short miles away from the home, in Altadena, California. Visiting the cemetery and photographing the gravesite seemed the only thing that hadn’t been done in documenting Angle’s life. I contacted the cemetery, and they were able to provide me with the location of the gravesite as well as a map showing the exact place of the grave.

Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1.
Figure 1. Drs. Patrick Turley and Sheldon Peck in front of Dr. Angle’s house in Pasadena, California, 2015.

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 1; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.1.133

So, on a Saturday morning this past spring, I met up with 2 other Angle Southern California Board members, Jim Zahrowski and Jason Pair, to locate the grave and pay our respects to the namesake of our society. It was easy to find since there was a large monument (approximately 4’x5’) with the name “Angle” on it (Figure 2). After all these years of reading about Angle and reading the letters he wrote to family, friends, and colleagues, I can’t describe the feeling I had seeing that monument with his name on it for the first time. Directly in front of the monument was Angle’s headstone, which simply read “Edward Hartley Angle, 1855-1930 (Figure 3). Adjacent to his grave was what appeared to be an empty grave with no marker (Figure 4). Could this have been the plot set aside for his wife, Anna Hopkins Angle? A search of the area turned up no gravestone for Anna. However, on the North side of the Angle monument, we found the grave of his daughter, Florence Isabel Angle, who had died in 1970 in Morganton, North Carolina (Figure 5).

Figure 2.Figure 2.Figure 2.
Figure 2. Angle Gravestone Marker, Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, California.

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 1; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.1.133

Figure 3.Figure 3.Figure 3.
Figure 3. Edward Hartley Angle’s headstone, Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, California.

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 1; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.1.133

Figure 4.Figure 4.Figure 4.
Figure 4. Angle Gravestone Marker and Edward Angle’s headstone with adjacent gravesite apparently empty, Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, California.

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 1; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.1.133

Figure 5.Figure 5.Figure 5.
Figure 5. Headstone for Florence Angle on the north side of the Angle Gravestone Marker, Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, California.

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 1; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.1.133

Curious as to the whereabouts of Anna’s grave (maybe she decided to be cremated or buried elsewhere?), we visited the office of the cemetery and described our interest in obtaining whatever information they might have on Anna Hopkins Angle. Providing the gentleman with her year of death (1957), he went off to investigate the cemetery’s computer archives. After a few minutes, he emerged with a map of the plot showing that Anna was indeed buried in the unmarked plot next to her husband; but why no gravestone? The plot of 4 graves with the monument in the middle included a fourth grave for Lillian Angle, Angle’s younger sister who apparently never married. Lillian Angle had worked as Dr. Angle’s secretary when Anna attended dental school. As we were leaving that day, we all thought how sad it was that there was no marker acknowledging Anna’s life. She had served her husband, his students, and the Angle Society for so long. Further investigation by Jim Zahrowski found her listed as buried at the Bloomington, Hennepin County, Minnesota cemetery with other members of the Hopkins family (Figure 6). Her name is on the top right of the gravesite monument (Figure 7). However, contacting the Bloomington cemetery, they have no record of her burial, only her name on the plaque, which can no longer be done because of such confusion. So, Anna has a headstone where she’s not buried and no headstone where she is buried.

Figure 6.Figure 6.Figure 6.
Figure 6. Hopkins Family Gravesite Marker listing Anna Hopkins Angle (1872-1957; top right), Bloomington Cemetery, Bloomington, Minnesota. There was no record of burial, only the family plaque (Photograph courtesy of Dr. Jim Zahrowski).

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 1; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.1.133

Figure 7.Figure 7.Figure 7.
Figure 7. Closeup view of the Hopkins Family plaque, Bloomington Cemetery, Bloomington, Minnesota (Photograph courtesy of Dr. Jim Zahrowski).

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 1; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.1.133

Inquiries made to the Mountain View Cemetery about placing a headstone on Anna’s grave revealed it could only be done with the permission of next of kin. In a Henry Louis Gates Jr. type effort in genealogic detective work (aka “Finding Your Roots”), Jim Zahrowski found and contacted Ethan Hopkins, the great grandnephew of Anna Hopkins Angle, who agreed to have a headstone placed. The Angle Society felt the same way we did and voted unanimously to pay for a headstone for Anna’s grave. Plans are in place to have this accomplished.

REFERENCES

  • 1. 

    Peck, Sheldon, The World of Edward Hartley Angle: His letters, accounts and patents . 2007.

    The E.H. Angle Education and Research Foundation
    .
    Boston, MA
    .

  • 2. 

    Peck, Sheldon, A Biographical Portrait of Edward Hartley Angle, the First Specialist in Orthodontics, Part 1–3. Angle Orthod. 2009; 79

    (6)
    : 1021–1036.

Copyright: © 2024 by The EH Angle Education and Research Foundation, Inc.
Figure 1.
Figure 1.

Drs. Patrick Turley and Sheldon Peck in front of Dr. Angle’s house in Pasadena, California, 2015.

Figure 2.
Figure 2.

Angle Gravestone Marker, Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, California.

Figure 3.
Figure 3.

Edward Hartley Angle’s headstone, Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, California.

Figure 4.
Figure 4.

Angle Gravestone Marker and Edward Angle’s headstone with adjacent gravesite apparently empty, Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, California.

Figure 5.
Figure 5.

Headstone for Florence Angle on the north side of the Angle Gravestone Marker, Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, California.

Figure 6.
Figure 6.

Hopkins Family Gravesite Marker listing Anna Hopkins Angle (1872-1957; top right), Bloomington Cemetery, Bloomington, Minnesota. There was no record of burial, only the family plaque (Photograph courtesy of Dr. Jim Zahrowski).

Figure 7.
Figure 7.

Closeup view of the Hopkins Family plaque, Bloomington Cemetery, Bloomington, Minnesota (Photograph courtesy of Dr. Jim Zahrowski).

Contributor Notes

Patrick K. Turley, DDS, MSD, MEd is a Past President of the Southern California Component of the Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists.

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