Notable burials · Science and work
Business leaders buried in Illinois
Wikidata records 265 business leaders as buried in 85 of the cemeteries we list in Illinois. Graceland Cemetery in Chicago holds the most, with 62. Illinois has the 3rd highest count of any state, out of 3,027 nationally.
People recorded as businesspeople, entrepreneurs or industrialists.
265
business leaders
85
cemeteries
8%
of notable burials in Illinois
1910s
the decade with the most deaths (40)
Map of cemeteries
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Each point is a cemetery; open it for everyone recorded there.
Best documented
Business leaders buried in Illinois
- Jesse Owens1913-1980American track and field athleteOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Aaron Swartz1986-2013American computer programmer and internet-political activistShalom Memorial Park, Arlington Heights, IL
- Jack Ruby1911-1967American nightclub operator who killed American presidential assassin Lee Harvey OswaldWestlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum, Norridge, IL
- Josephine Cochrane1839-1913American inventorGlenwood Cemetery, Shelbyville, IL
- Avery Brundage1887-1975President of the International Olympic Committee from 1952 to 1972Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Cyrus McCormick1809-1884American inventor and businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Michael S. Hart1947-2011American author, founder of Project GutenbergWoodlawn Cemetery, Urbana, IL
- George Pullman1831-1897Engineer and businessman from the United StatesGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Allan Pinkerton1819-1884Scottish-American civil war detective and spyGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- John Deere1804-1886American blacksmith and manufacturerRiverside Cemetery, Moline, IL
- Leo Burnett1891-1971American advertising executiveRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Sarah E. Goode1855-1905American inventorGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Jay Pritzker1922-1999American businessman (1922-1999); uncle of J. B. PritzkerMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- George Halas1895-1983American football player, coach, and team owner
- Leonard Chess1917-1969Polish-American record company executiveWestlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum, Norridge, IL
- James Colosimo1878-1920Italian-American mobsterOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- William D. Boyce1858-1929Businessman and founder of Scouting in AmericaOttawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, IL
- Julius Rosenwald1862-1932American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Joseph Glidden1813-1906American farmer who patented barbed wireFairview Cemetery, DeKalb, IL
- Abe Saperstein1902-1966American sports executive and basketball coachWestlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum, Norridge, IL
- Bertha Palmer1849-1918American art collectorGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- James L. Kraft1874-1953Canadian-American businessmanMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- Gustavus Franklin Swift1839-1903American entrepreneur in the meat industryMount Hope Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Marshall Field1834-1906American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Philip Danforth Armour1832-1901American meatpacking industrialist/founder: Chicago based Armour & CompanyGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Richard Warren Sears1863-1914American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- William Cornelius Van Horne1843-1915American-Canadian businessman and art collectorOakwood Cemetery, Ingalls Park, IL
- Dorr Felt1862-1930American inventorRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Oscar Stanton De Priest1871-1951American politician and civil rights advocateGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Friedrich Weyerhäuser1834-1914German-American industrialistChippiannock Cemetery, Rock Island, IL
- Annie Malone1869-1957American businesswomanBurr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, IL
- Elbert Henry Gary1846-1927American judge and businessmanWheaton Cemetery, Wheaton, IL
- John Shaffer1827-1870American politicianFreeport City Cemetery, Freeport, IL
- Martin H. Kennelly1887-1961American mayorMount Olivet Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Charles Deering1852-1927American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Angelo Poffo1925-2010American professional wrestlerQueen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, IL
- Alvah Curtis Roebuck1864-1948American businessmanAcacia Park Cemetery and Mausoleum, Norridge, IL
- John H. Johnson1918-2005American businessman and publisherOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Martin Barnaby Madden1855-1928American politicianCass Cemetery, Darien, IL
- Charles Rudolph Walgreen, Sr.1873-1939American businessmanOakwood Cemetery, Dixon, IL
- George Musso1910-2000Player of American footballSunset Hill Cemetery, Glen Carbon, IL
- Potter Palmer1826-1902American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Harold Fowler McCormick1872-1941American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Jesse W. Fell1808-1887American businessman and land ownerEvergreen Memorial Cemetery, Bloomington, IL
- Sid Luckman1916-1998American football playerMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- George Bell Swift1845-1912American politicianRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Aaron Montgomery Ward1843-1913American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Albert Tangora1903-1978American typistElm Lawn Memorial Park, Elmhurst, IL
- James Deering1859-1925American industrialistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- William Deering1826-1913American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Horace White1834-1916American journalistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Harriet Hubbard Ayer1849-1903American journalistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Frederic McLaughlin1877-1944American ice hockey executiveCalvary Catholic Cemetery, Evanston, IL
- Oscar Mayer1859-1955German-American entrepreneurRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Thomas Gallagher1850-1930American politicianSaint Boniface Catholic Cemetery, Lincolnwood, IL
- Barney Balaban1887-1971American film studio executiveJewish Waldheim Cemeteries, Forest Park, IL
- Cyrus Hall McCormick II1859-1936American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- William Wallace Kimball1828-1904American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Martin Emerich1846-1922American politicianRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Paul Cornell1822-1904American lawyer and Chicago real estate investorOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- John G. Shedd1850-1926American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Ignaz Schwinn1860-1948Founder of Schwinn Bicycle CompanyRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Ferdinand Peck1848-1924American philanthropistRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Joseph Weil1875-1976American fraudsterArcher Woods Memorial Park Cemetery, Justice, IL
- Charles Rudolph Walgreen, Jr.1906-2007American businessmanOakwood Cemetery, Dixon, IL
- John Acker1870-1933American politician and entrepreneurSavanna Township Cemetery, Savanna, IL
- Mary Hegeler Carus1861-1936American engineer, editor and entrepreneurOakwood Cemetery, La Salle, IL
- Moritz Dobschutz1831-1913German noble and American merchantWalnut Hill Cemetery, Belleville, IL
- Edward Moskal1924-2005American activist
- Steve Kordek1911-2012American pinball innovator
- Martin A. Ryerson1856-1932American businessman and art collectorGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Michael Cassius McDonald1839-1907American crime bossMount Olivet Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Francis S. Peabody1859-1922American businessmanQueen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, IL
- Jonathan Ogden Armour1863-1927American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Earl B. Dickerson1891-1986American lawyer and activistBurr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, IL
- Richard Bernard Vail1895-1955American politician
- Eunice W. Johnson1916-2010American businesswoman and publisherOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- William J. Small1926-2020American television journalist and executiveJewish Waldheim Cemeteries, Forest Park, IL
- Edward C. Hegeler1835-1910American businessmanOakwood Cemetery, La Salle, IL
- Howard Paul Savage1884-1944National commander of the American Legion from 1926 to 1927Mount Carmel Cemetery, Hillside, IL
- J. Roderick MacArthur1920-1984American businessman and philanthropistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- N. K. Fairbank1829-1903American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Samuel W. Allerton1828-1914American businessperson, meat packer and stock yard ownerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- C. K. G. Billings1861-1937American industrialist and equestrianGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Samuel Eddy Barrett1834-1912American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- George Armour1812-1881Scottish American businessman and philanthropistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Marshall Field IV1916-1965American newspaper ownerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Bryan Lathrop1844-1916American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Perry H. Smith1828-1885American politicianGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- William O. Goodman1848-1936American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Alexander C. McClurg1832-1901American booksellerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Charles L. Hutchinson1854-1924American businesspersonGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- John Jones1817-1879American abolitionist and civic leaderGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Henry Honoré1824-1916American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Adolph Schoeninger1883-1900German-American bicycle manufacturerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Harlow N. Higinbotham1838-1919American businesspersonGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Ben Harper1817-1887American mayor and hotelierChippiannock Cemetery, Rock Island, IL
- Edward N. Hurley1864-1933Irish American businessman and inventorCalvary Catholic Cemetery, Evanston, IL
- Warren L. Wheaton1812-1903American philanthropistWheaton Cemetery, Wheaton, IL
- Milo Smith Hascall1829-1904Union Army generalForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Robert Alan Pritzker1926-2011American billionaireMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- Donald Pritzker1932-1972American businessmanMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- Cindy Pritzker1923-2025American nonprofit executiveMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- Francis Beidler1854-1924American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Benjamin Fergusondied 1905American philanthropistRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Edward Morris Sr.1866-1913President of Morris & Company, meat-packers in ChicagoRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- A. B. Dick1856-1934American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Alexander Revell1858-1931American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Alfred Cowles, Sr.1832-1889American businessman, part owner of the Chicago Tribune late 1800sOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Arthur Spiegel1885-1916American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Edward E. Ayer1841-1927American businessmanMount Auburn Cemetery, Harvard, IL
- James A. Patten1852-1928American businessman and politicianOak Mound Cemetery, Hinckley, IL
- Emanuel M. Abrahams1866-1913American politician and entrepreneurHebrew Benevolent Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Floyd K. Whittemore1844-1907American politician and businessmanElmwood Cemetery, Sycamore, IL
- Charles Callender1831-1897American ministral troupe ownerMount Greenwood Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Albert Volz1871-1971Political ActivistWheeling Township Arlington Heights Cemetery, Prospect Heights, IL
- Edward P. Petri1884-1949American businessman and politicianMount Evergreen Cemetery, Millstadt, IL
- Donald T. Barry1928-2017American nurse, anesthetist, businessman, and politicianSaint Martin's Cemetery, Girard, IL
- John Villiers Farwell I1825-1908American businessmanLake Forest Cemetery, Lake Forest, IL
- Eliphalet Wickes Blatchford1826-1914American manufacturerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Brooks McCormick1917-2006American philanthropist and equestrianGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Nelson Ludington1818-1883American businessman and lumber baronGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Henry Field1841-1890American businessman and philanthropistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Carl L. Hamilton1888-1946American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Albert Keep1826-1907American railroad executiveGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Silas B. Cobb1812-1900American industrialistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- William Henry Bush1849-1931American businessman and rancherGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Levi W. Yaggy1848-1912American capitalistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- John Jacob Glessner1843-1936American businessmanGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Michael Cudahy1841-1910Irish-American industrialistCalvary Catholic Cemetery, Evanston, IL
- Ruby I. Gilbert1851-1945American businesswomanForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Frederick B. Roos1883-1942American lawyer and politicianForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Edward Uihlein1845-1921German entrepreneurForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Jack Nicholas Pritzker1904-1979American businessmanMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- Abram Nicholas Pritzker1896-1986American philanthropistMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- Matthew Laflin1803-1897American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- John Mason Loomis1825-1900American lumber tycoonRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Robert J. Thorne1875-1955American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Benjamin F. Lindheimer1889-1960American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Marvin Hughitt1837-1928American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Otto Young1844-1906German-American merchantOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Andrew Thomas Kearney1892-1962American consultantRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Arthur Ducat1830-1896Union Army officerRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- George Newell Armsby1876-1942American entrepreneurRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Harry Mitchell Grabiner1890-1948American baseball executiveRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Henry M. Dawes1877-1952American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Adolphus C. Bartlett1844-1922American industrialistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Norman T. Gassette1839-1891American baseball executive and politicianRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Joseph Spiegel1840-1918American businessmanRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Eugene Clark1873-1942American entrepreneurRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
Showing the 150 with the most Wikipedia language editions, of 265. Cemetery pages list everyone recorded there.
Over time
Deaths by decade
- 1870s4
- 1880s13
- 1890s17
- 1900s36
- 1910s40
- 1920s32
- 1930s25
- 1940s23
- 1950s16
- 1960s12
- 1970s11
- 1980s10
- 1990s7
- 2000s7
- 2010s9
- 2020s3
By recorded year of death, for the 265 people with one.
Cemeteries
Where they are buried
- Graceland Cemetery · Chicago, IL62
- Rosehill Cemetery · Chicago, IL54
- Oakwoods Cemetery · Chicago, IL16
- Memorial Park Cemetery · Skokie, IL12
- Forest Home Cemetery · Forest Park, IL7
- Calvary Catholic Cemetery · Evanston, IL5
- Lake Forest Cemetery · Lake Forest, IL5
- Saint Adalbert Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleums · Niles, IL3
- Mount Olivet Cemetery · Chicago, IL3
- Westlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum · Norridge, IL3
- Oakwood Cemetery · Dixon, IL3
- Oakwood Cemetery · Ingalls Park, IL3
- Jewish Waldheim Cemeteries · Forest Park, IL2
- Springdale Cemetery · Peoria, IL2
- Mount Carmel Cemetery · Hillside, IL2
- Queen of Heaven Cemetery · Hillside, IL2
- Bohemian National Cemetery of Chicago · Chicago, IL2
- Burr Oak Cemetery · Alsip, IL2
- Oakwood Cemetery · La Salle, IL2
- Saint Boniface Catholic Cemetery · Lincolnwood, IL2
- Chippiannock Cemetery · Rock Island, IL2
- Naperville Cemetery · Naperville, IL2
- Bluff City Cemetery · Elgin, IL2
- Lakeside Cemetery · Pekin, IL2
- Mount Auburn Cemetery · Harvard, IL2
Top 25 of 85 cemeteries. The map shows all of them.
More lists
Other notable burials in Illinois
United States representatives260Writers and poets238Baseball players201Musicians and singers191Journalists129Painters, sculptors and photographers94Physicians93American Civil War veterans88Actors80American football players78Architects74World War II veterans71World War I veterans70Scientists66Medal of Honor recipients57Inventors and engineers55Basketball players51Governors31United States senators25
Method
How this list is made
A person is on this list when their Wikidata entry gives a cemetery we list as their place of burial and also carries the statement this list is built on. We do not add anyone by judgment, so the list reflects how complete Wikidata is: some people are missing, and burial places can be disputed.
Names, years and descriptions are shown as Wikidata records them. Names link to Wikipedia where an English article exists.