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Oswald Buried in Fort Worth

Nov. 25, 1963 - President Kennedy’s accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was buried this afternoon in Fort Worth, Tex., in a plain, cloth-covered wooden coffin. Only his 22-year-old widow, his mother, his two baby daughters, and a brother were at the graveside in an isolated section of Rose Hill Cemetery for the brief service. A Lutheran minister from Dallas was supposed to have conducted simple services but failed to show up. After a delay, the Rev. Lewis Sanders, executive secretary of the Fort Worth Council of Churches, officiated. Although he had not conducted a burial service for more than eight years, he said he did not want it said “that a man can be buried in Fort Worth without a minister.” “We are not here to judge,” said the Rev. Saunders in his message. “We are here to lay him away before an understanding God.” Seven newspapermen volunteered to act as pallbearers because no one else was available. Oswald’s Russian-born widow, Marina, sobbed quietly. So did Mrs. Marguerite Oswald, the former marine’s widowed mother. “Let not your hearts be troubled,” said Mr. Saunders, executive secretary of the Fort Worth Council of Churches. The young Russian woman had kissed her husband’s body when the coffin was opened for a moment before the service began. Then she sat in a folding chair, holding June Lee, 22 months old. Oswald’s mother held Audrey Marina Rachel, who was born one month ago. Robert Oswald, 26-year-old accountant from nearby Denton, sat between them. The family was brought to the cemetery at the eastern edge of Fort Worth by Secret Service men shortly after 4 p.m. E.P. Seltzer, the cemetery manager, objected to the selection of Rose Hill, but he said that under Texas law he could not refuse. Oswald’s mother, a 56-year-old nurse in Fort Worth, had bought four cemetery plots several years ago for $400. Heroes of both World Wars are buried in the cemetery with the presumed assassin. They include Maj. Horace S. Carswell Jr., Medal of Honor winner for whom Carswell Air Force Base is named.

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© 2024 by Joe Rubenstein

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