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Remembering Mr. Cub

Founded in 1860, Graceland Cemetery is a beautiful 120-acre “garden cemetery” on Chicago’s North Side, incorporating trees, lakes, terraced lawns and paths into its landscape design, creating a park-like atmosphere. It is the final resting place for numerous notable Chicagoans, including Marshall Field, Cyrus McCormick, George Pullman and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

 

Being a Chicago Cubs fan, I made it a point when I was there this month to visit the gravesite of Ernie Banks, a Hall of Fame Major League baseball player who played 19 seasons for the Cubs beginning in 1953. Banks was the Cubs’ first African-American player and is regarded as one of the greatest Cubs players of all time.

 

Banks' dedication to the team along with his ebullient nature earned him the nickname “Mr Cub,” both during and after his playing career. For his contribution to sports, Banks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. Ernie Banks died of a heart attack in 2015 a week before his 84th birthday.

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Uploaded on May 30, 2019
Taken on May 21, 2019