Richardson, J. P.
Music
Age 28
October 24, 1930 - February 3, 1959
Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Funeral Home / Beaumont / Texas / USA / North America
J.P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper) was a Texas disk jockey, musician and singer known for his big hit singles "Chantilly Lace" and "White Lightning". Richardson was killed in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa in 1959 along with ...
Rickenbacker, Adolph
Music
Age 88
April 1, 1887 - March 21, 1976
Loma Linda Memorial Park / Fullerton / California / USA / North America
Adolph Rickenbacker was a Swiss-American remembered as one of the co-founders of the Rickenbacker guitar, and one of the key people who was responsible for the creation and adoption of electric guitars that managed to change the s...
Rickenbacker, Eddie
Historical Figure
Age 82
October 8, 1890 - July 23, 1973
Green Lawn Cemetery / Columbus / Ohio / USA / North America
Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker was called America’s Ace of Aces during World War I, the highest scorer of American aerial victories over the Germans. He could just as easily have been labeled the ‘luckiest man alive,’ howeve...
Rio, Frank
Crime and their Victims
Age 39
July 2, 1895 - February 23, 1935
Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery / Hillside / Illinois / USA / North America
One of Al Capone's most trusted and loyal bodyguards. Frank Rio was an alleged gunman in the famous 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre where seven members and associates of George “Bugs” Moran's bootlegging gang were lined up a...
Rizzitello, Michael
Crime and their Victims
Age 78
March 29, 1927 - October 26, 2005
Forest Lawn Cemetery / Cathedral City / California / USA / North America
Michael Rizzitello (aka "Mike Rizzi") was a capo (underboss) in the Milano crime family of Los Angeles. Rizzitello's criminal record stretched back to 1947 whe he worked for "Crazy Joe" Gallo in the 1950s who was a member of the P...
Roach, Max
Music
Age 83
January 10, 1924 - August 16, 2007
Woodlawn Cemetery / The Bronx / New York / USA / North America
Max Roach, was an American jazz drummer, composer, and one of most influential musicians in the development of bebop jazz. One of the most influential and widely recorded percussionists in modern history, Max played or recorded wi...
Robards, Jason
Show Business
Age 78
July 26, 1922 - December 26, 2000
Oak Lawn Cemetery / Fairfield / Connecticut / USA / North America
Recognized around the world as the definitive interpreter of the works of Eugene O'Neill throughout his long and esteemed career, Jason Robards has been hailed as one of this country's finest stage actors and acclaimed for his out...
Robbins, Harold
Writers and Poets
Age 81
May 21, 1916 - October 14, 1997
Forest Lawn Cemetery / Cathedral City / California / USA / North America
Harold Robbins, a writer whose formula of sex, money and power made him one of the best-selling authors of his day, wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages. Among his best-known books is The Car...
Robbins, Irv
Business and Finance
Age 90
December 6, 1917 - May 5, 2008
Forest Lawn Cemetery / Cathedral City / California / USA / North America
Irvine Robbins was a Canadian-born American businessman. He co-founded the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain in 1945 with his partner and brother-in-law Burt Baskin. Robbins grew up scooping ice cream at his family’s dairy. ...
Robbins, Marty
Music
Age 57
September 26, 1925 - December 8, 1982
Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum / Nashville / Tennessee / USA / North America
Marty Robbins was country music's most versatile singer and consistent hitmaker. His early recordings saw him veer from tear-stained ballads and honky-tonks to rockabilly and pop. Best known for his string of gunfighter ballads, R...
Robeson, Paul
Historical Figure
Age 77
April 9, 1898 - January 23, 1976
Ferncliff Cemetery / Hartsdale / New York / USA / North America
Paul Robeson was an American actor, singer, and activist. Some of his best know work on stage included The Emperor Jones, All God's Chillun Got Wings, and Othello. Robeson best known movies include Show Boat (1936), Sanders of the...
Rockefeller, John D. Sr.
Business and Finance
Age 97
July 8, 1839 - May 23, 1937
Lakeview Cemetery / Cleveland / Ohio / USA / North America
There’s rich, there’s wealthy, and then there’s John D. Rockefeller. Considered by many to be the most financially-prosperous individual in modern history with an estimated $900,000,000 bank balance (unadjusted for inflation...
Rockin' Dopsie
Music
Age 61
February 10, 1932 - August 26, 1993
Calvary Cemetery / Lafayette / Louisiana / USA / North America
Rockin’ Dopsie (pronounced DOOP-sie), along with Boozoo Chavis and Clifton Chenier, is widely acknowledged to be one of the originators of zydeco music. Dopsie played music for dancing, assimilating R&B influences into zydeco an...
Rockwell, Norman
Artists
Age 84
February 3, 1894 - November 8, 1978
Stockbridge Cemetery / Stockbridge / Massachusetts / USA / North America
Norman Rockwell was a prolific American painter and artist, producing more than 4,000 original works in his lifetime. He is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine...
Rodgers, Jimmie
Music
Age 35
September 8, 1897 - May 26, 1933
Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery / Meridian / Mississippi / USA / North America
Jimmie Rodgers was an American singer, songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmic yodeling. During his all-to b...
Rooney, Mickey
Show Business
Age 93
September 23, 1920 - April 6, 2014
Hollywood Forever Cemetery / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Star of stage, screen and television Mickey Rooney was know for his energy, charisma, versatility and longivity who died with only $18,000 to his name. During his lifetime he racked up over 300 television and movie roles, 8 marria...
Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel
Crime and their Victims
Age
- June 19, 1953
Wellwood Cemetery / West Babylon / New York / USA / North America
It was a case that mesmerized the country and the world. On June 19, 1953, at the height of the Cold War, New York City–born Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were put to death in the electric chair. Convicted of conspiring to pass ato...
Rosenberg, William
Business and Finance
Age 86
June 10, 1916 - September 22, 2002
Sharon Memorial Park / Sharon / Massachusetts / USA / North America
Bill Rosenberg was an American entrepreneur who founded the Dunkin' Donuts franchise in 1950 in Quincy, Massachusetts. As one of the pioneers in name-brand franchising, Dunkin' Donuts originally was named the "Open Kettle" doughn...
Ross, Bob
Artists
Age 52
October 29, 1942 - July 4, 1995
Woodlawn Memorial Park and Funeral Home / Gotha / Florida / USA / North America
Bob Ross, with his distinctive hair style and quiet demeanor, was a popular American painter, art instructor, and television host. The painter who gave us “happy little trees” was the creator and host of The Joy of Painting, a...
Royal, Billy Joe
Music
Age 73
April 3, 1942 - October 6, 2015
Greenwood Cemetery / Morehead City / North Carolina / USA / North America
Billy Joe Royal was a Georgia-born singer who debuted on Columbia Records with "Down in the Boondocks" in 1965, which reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. But he struggled to match his initial success with his subsequent record...