Notable burials · Science and work
Scientists buried in Illinois
Wikidata records 66 scientists as buried in 40 of the cemeteries we list in Illinois. Oakwoods Cemetery in Chicago holds the most, with 11. Illinois has the 9th highest count of any state, out of 1,905 nationally.
People recorded as scientists, including chemists, physicists, mathematicians, biologists and astronomers.
66
scientists
40
cemeteries
2%
of notable burials in Illinois
1960s
the decade with the most deaths (10)
Map of cemeteries
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Each point is a cemetery; open it for everyone recorded there.
In order of death
Scientists buried in Illinois
- Cyrus Bryant1798-1865American educatorOakland Cemetery, Princeton, IL
- Kate Newell Doggett1827-1885American botanist and suffragistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Selim Peabody1829-1903American educatorMount Hope Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Jacob Schneck1843-1906American physician and botanistRose Hill Cemetery, Mount Carmel, IL
- Charles Reid Barnes1858-1910American botanistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Josephine Mason Milligan1835-1911American botanist, collector, journalist and social activistDiamond Grove Cemetery, South Jacksonville, IL
- Thomas Jonathan Burrill1839-1916American botanist and plant pathologistWoodlawn Cemetery, Urbana, IL
- Lansing, Odelle Edward, Jr.1868-1918Botanical collectorMount Greenwood Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- John Harper Long1856-1918American chemistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Helen D. Hawley1842-1919American botanist and bryologistRound Grove Cemetery, Morrison, IL
- Elias Colbert1829-1921American astronomerRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- John D. Conley1843-1926Professor in geology and physics at the University of WyomingCarlinville City Cemetery, Carlinville, IL
- Julia Warner Snow1863-1927American botanistOakwood Cemetery, La Salle, IL
- Ulysses Sherman Grant1867-1932American geologistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Eliakim Hastings Moore1862-1932American mathematicianOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Herbert Slaught1861-1937American mathematicianOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- George Ellery Hale1868-1938American astronomerOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Marie Louise Sawyer1876-1939American botanist, botanical collector and university teacherForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Carl Frederick Gronemann1879-1941Botanist, botanical collector and scientific illustratorBluff City Cemetery, Elgin, IL
- William Carl Gower1911-1945American biologistOakland Cemetery, Carbondale, IL
- Thomas F. Holgate1859-1945American educator; President of Northwestern UniversityRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Alice J. Heading1852-1945American botanistSpringdale Cemetery, Peoria, IL
- Thomas Edmund Savage1866-1947American geologistEast Lawn Cemetery, Urbana, IL
- Jacob Westlund1867-1947Swedish-American mathematicianAcacia Park Cemetery and Mausoleum, Norridge, IL
- Clara Latimer Bacon1866-1948American mathematicianCherry Grove Cemetery, Abingdon, IL
- Arthur Wilkins Deselm1875-1950American lawyer, judge, botanist and botanical collectorMound Grove Cemetery / Saint Rose Cemetery, Bradley, IL
- Ira Waddell Clokey1878-1950American botanist and mining engineerGreenwood Cemetery, Decatur, IL
- William Draper Harkins1873-1951American chemistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Harris Franklin MacNeish1879-1953Ph.D. The University of Chicago 1909Mount Hope Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Enrico Fermi1901-1954Italian, American physicistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Alice Wynekoop1871-1955American physician and convicted murdererRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Bradley Moore Davis1871-1957American botanistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Arthur Richard Schweitzer1877-1957American mathematicianGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Arnold Emch1871-1959Professor of mathematicsEast Lawn Cemetery, Urbana, IL
- Julia Anna Gardner1882-1960American geologistDewolf Cemetery, Dixon, IL
- Marcel Schein1902-1960Slovak-born American physicistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Jens Christian Bay1871-1962Danish-American writer and librarianMount Emblem Cemetery, Northlake, IL
- Dorothy Hansine Andersen1901-1963American physicianOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Mary Agnes Chase1869-1963U.S. botanist, botanical collector and scientific illustratorRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- James Franck1882-1964German-American physicistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Helen Steele Pratt1883-1965American ornithologist, teacher and botanical collectorDiamond Grove Cemetery, South Jacksonville, IL
- Virginius Heber Chase1876-1966American botanist and collectorJubilee Churchyard Cemetery, Dunlap, IL
- Katharine Dexter McCormick1875-1967American philanthropistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Robert Daniel Carmichael1879-1967American mathematicianGriggsville Cemetery, Griggsville, IL
- Alfred W. Stickney1886-1970American geologist and mining engineerHope Cemetery, Galesburg, IL
- Max Beberman1925-1971American mathematics educatorWoodlawn Cemetery, Urbana, IL
- Percy Lavon Julian1899-1975African-American chemistElm Lawn Memorial Park, Elmhurst, IL
- Eugene Edmund Kohlbecker1923-1977Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1956Diamond Grove Cemetery, South Jacksonville, IL
- Dorothy Irene Fennell1916-1977BotanistSaint Marys Cemetery, Canton, IL
- Alfred T. Blomquist1906-1977ChemistRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Karl Menger1902-1985Austrian mathematicianGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Kuo-Tsai Chen1923-1987Chinese-American mathematicianRoselawn Cemetery, Champaign, IL
- Elmer Beaumont Tolsted1920-1992Ph.D. Brown University 1946Woodlawn Cemetery, Rochelle, IL
- Ernest H. Volwiler1893-1992American chemistLake Forest Cemetery, Lake Forest, IL
- Antoni Zygmund1900-1992Polish-American mathematician
- Lawrence Albert Ringenberg1915-1995Ph.D. The Ohio State University 1941Mound Cemetery, Charleston, IL
- Troy L. Péwé1918-1999American geologistOak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL
- Robert R. Wilson1914-2000American physicistPioneer Cemetery, Batavia, IL
- Jane Collier1916-2006U.S. protozoologist and chemistEast Lawn Cemetery, Urbana, IL
- Gene H. Golub1932-2007American computer scientist and numerical analystShalom Memorial Park, Arlington Heights, IL
- Henry William Wyld1928-2013PhysicistWoodlawn Cemetery, Urbana, IL
- Paul Sally1933-2013American mathematicianMaryhill Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, Niles, IL
- Minnie H. Steinberg1920-2017Manhattan Project scientistWestlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum, Norridge, IL
- Vera Pless1931-2020American mathematicianGlen Oak Cemetery, Hillside, IL
- Richard Neapolitan1946-2020American mathematicianQueen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, IL
- Judith D. Sally1937-2024Professor emeritus of mathematicsMaryhill Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, Niles, IL
Everyone on this list, by year of death. People without a recorded death year come last.
Over time
Deaths by decade
- 1860s1
- 1880s1
- 1900s2
- 1910s6
- 1920s3
- 1930s5
- 1940s7
- 1950s9
- 1960s10
- 1970s6
- 1980s2
- 1990s5
- 2000s3
- 2010s3
- 2020s3
By recorded year of death, for the 66 people with one.
Cemeteries
Where they are buried
- Oakwoods Cemetery · Chicago, IL11
- Graceland Cemetery · Chicago, IL5
- Rosehill Cemetery · Chicago, IL5
- Diamond Grove Cemetery · South Jacksonville, IL3
- East Lawn Cemetery · Urbana, IL3
- Woodlawn Cemetery · Urbana, IL3
- Maryhill Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum · Niles, IL2
- Mount Hope Cemetery · Chicago, IL2
- Shalom Memorial Park · Arlington Heights, IL1
- Saint Adalbert Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleums · Niles, IL1
- Oak Ridge Cemetery · Springfield, IL1
- Forest Home Cemetery · Forest Park, IL1
- Springdale Cemetery · Peoria, IL1
- Queen of Heaven Cemetery · Hillside, IL1
- Westlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum · Norridge, IL1
- Mount Greenwood Cemetery · Chicago, IL1
- Glen Oak Cemetery · Hillside, IL1
- Acacia Park Cemetery and Mausoleum · Norridge, IL1
- Mound Grove Cemetery / Saint Rose Cemetery · Bradley, IL1
- Oakwood Cemetery · La Salle, IL1
- Lake Forest Cemetery · Lake Forest, IL1
- Griggsville Cemetery · Griggsville, IL1
- Mount Emblem Cemetery · Northlake, IL1
- Elm Lawn Memorial Park · Elmhurst, IL1
- Bluff City Cemetery · Elgin, IL1
Top 25 of 40 cemeteries. The map shows all of them.
More lists
Other notable burials in Illinois
Business leaders265United States representatives260Writers and poets238Baseball players201Musicians and singers191Journalists129Painters, sculptors and photographers94Physicians93American Civil War veterans88Actors80American football players78Architects74World War II veterans71World War I veterans70Medal 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.