93rd Annual Memorial Day Service Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park

Memorial Day Monday
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

93rd Annual Memorial Day Service

Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park

Veterans Memorial Cemetery

Monday, May 27, 2019 

Hundreds of veterans, their families and the public will gather for our 93rd Annual Memorial Day service and concert in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery located at 11111 Aurora Ave N. in Seattle. 

Scouts, churches, local organizations and families will place flags on all the graves in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery early Monday morning. The 1:30pm concert will feature marches, patriotic selections and other music provided by the Seattle Pacific University Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Drum Corp, Daniel Helseth, Conductor. The Service of Remembrance begins at 2:00pm, following the concert.

The program will begin with the Parade of Colors. The Color Guard is from the Washington State National Guard. Following will be the National Anthem which will be sung this year by Maria Kesovija, and the Pledge of Allegiance led by William MacCully. 

Chaplain Edward Fackler, will lead us in the Invocation and Benediction with the Memorial Day Address by Samantha Powers, Director of Student Veteran Life at University of Washington.

Wreath Placement Ceremony will be led by the Advisory Board. The program will conclude with a ringing of the Liberty Bell 21 times by Vernon Zimmerman, followed by the Retiring of the Colors. The program should end about 3:00pm.

The public is invited to visit the graves of our Medal of Honor Recipients. Evergreen Washelli is proud to hold the remains of several Medal of Honor Recipients. Please join us today in remembering them. We invite you to visit their graves, read their stories and see an image of the medals received. 

3:15pm Monday May 27th – Following the ceremony, there will be a guided tour of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery which includes the remarkable lives of the Medal of Honor recipients in our care. Our guide will be David Bloch, son of Orville Emil Bloch, Medal of Honor recipient.

David will guide us through the history of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery, as well as teach us about the stories of Private William C. Horton, PFC Lewis Albanese, PFC William Kenzo Nakamura, 2nd LT Ronald Leisy, Coxswain Harry Delmar Fadden, CWT Emil Fredreksen and, of course, Colonel Orville Emil Bloch. The tour will start at the Doughboy Statue in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery at 3:15pm.