Desert Memorial Park is a cemetery in Cathedral City, California, United States, near Palm Springs. Opening in 1956 and receiving its first interment in 1957,The Palm Springs Cemetery District itself was covers 504 square miles, including Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Thousand Palms, and Rancho Mirage. See: it is maintained by the Palm Springs Cemetery District.The Palm Springs Cemetery District is a Special District established under California's Special District Law. See: Kimia Mizany and April Manatt, California Senate Local Government Committee, What's So Special About Special Districts? A Citizen's Guide to Special Districts in California (Third Edition) 2002 The District also maintains the Welwood Murray Cemetery in Palm Springs.
LGBTQ Veterans Memorial In 2001, American Veterans Post 66 dedicated a memorial at the cemetery honoring all LGBTQ veterans. In 2018, the state passed California Assembly Bill 2439 designating the memorial as California's official LGBTQ veterans memorial. In recognition, a second plaque was affixed to the monument. The memorial is an obelisk of South Dakotan mahogany granite with the logo of American Veterans for Equal Rights on it.
Notable interments
Among those buried here are: Chris Alcaide (1923–2004), actor Dorothy Arnold (1917–1984), actress William Milton Asher (1921–2012), American television and film producer, director, and screenwriter Busby Berkeley (1895–1976), motion picture director and musical choreographer Sonny Bono (1935–1998, born Salvatore Phillip Bono), record producer, singer (one half of the husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher), actor, politician Lorayne Brox (1901–1993), one of the Brox Sisters singing group Bob Cobert (1924–2020), television music composer Lawrence Crossley (1899–1962), Palm Springs businessman, pioneer, and first black resident Velma Wayne Dawson (1912–2007), puppeteer and creator of Howdy Doody Brad Dexter (1917–2002), actor and film producer Alex Dreier (1916–2000), broadcaster and actor Jolie Gabor (1896–1997), mother of the Gabor sisters Magda Gabor (1915–1997), one of the Gabor sisters Louis Galen (1925–2007), philanthropist and banker Neva Gerber (1894–1974), silent film actress Bill Goodwin (1910–1958), television announcer Irving Green (1916–2006), founder of Mercury Records Earle Hagen (1919–2008), composer Claude Harmon (1916–1989), golfer Howard Hesseman (1940–2022), actor Josephine Hill (1899–1989), actress Roy W. Hill (1899–1986), philanthropist Eddy Howard (1915–1963), singer Betty Hutton (1921–2007), singer and actress Jennings Lang (1915–1996), film producer Andrea Leeds (1913–1984), actress Benjamin Lees (1924–2010), composer Diana "Mousie" Lewis (1919–1997), actress Monica Lewis (1922–2015), actress and singer Frederick Loewe (1901–1988), composer Marian Marsh (1913–2006), actress David J. McDonald (1902–1979), labor leader Maurice "Mac" McDonald (1902–1971), co-founder, with brother Dick, of the original McDonald's chain Cameron Mitchell (1918–1994), actor Hugo Mario Montenegro (1925–1981), orchestra leader and composer Chuck Negron (1942–2026), singer-songwriter John J. Phillips (1887–1983), United States Congressman William Powell (1892–1984), actor and associate producer William David Powell (1925–1968), TV writer Marjorie Rambeau (1889–1970), actress Rebel Randall (1921–2010, born Alaine C. Brandes), American actress Pete Reiser (1919–1981), baseball player Jilly Rizzo (1917–1992), restaurateur and entertainer Frank Scully (1892–1964) author, journalist, humorist, and columnist Ginny Simms (aka, Virginia E. Eastvold) (1913–1994), actress Anthony Martin Sinatra (1892–1969), professional boxer, bar owner and the father of Frank Sinatra Barbara Sinatra (1926–2017), model and showgirl, wife of Frank Sinatra Dolly Sinatra (1894–1977), mother of Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra (1915–1998), singer and actor Suzanne Somers (1946–2023), actress Shirley Spork (1927–2022), golfer Herbert R. Temple Jr. (1928–2024), United States Army General Jimmy Van Heusen (1913–1990, born Edward C. Babcock), American composer Philip "Mickey" Weintraub (1907–1987), MLB player Demond Wilson (1946-2026), actor, author Ralph Young (1923–2008), singer and actor
See also Coachella Valley Public Cemetery Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City) – across Ramon Road from Desert Memorial Park List of cemeteries in Riverside County, California List of cemeteries in California
References
External links Palm Springs Cemetery District (official website) Palm Springs District Cemetery USGS Cathedral City Quad, California, Topographic Map at TopoZone