Dr. Hubert Eaton set in motion from his inspired dreams and conceptions and all of the journey through to completion, so many wonderful plans for Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks. His creative mind opened new vistas for the development of Forest Lawn in Glendale, California, and as his later vision for more locations was realized, he was able to develop and create even more of his dreams for making Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks the premier cemetery grounds in the entire nation.

His dream and his sincere passion for the cemetery was to establish the ground level or flat grave markers so that the entire cemetery, (or when he coined the term “Memorial-Park,”) was uniform in appearance and general upkeep, and completely devoid of the overtly garish and sad monuments he felt reflected the sadness and grief cemeteries were usually noted for. He envisioned a Memorial-Park where people grieving the loss of a beloved member of their family or loss of a friend would be able to find great comfort, hope, peace, and solace, in the great art works he would procure and would locate throughout the Memorial-Park or as he would call “God’s Garden!” 

He was a rugged man and yet such a gentle and kind man of strong family lineage and strong character having been born in Liberty, Missouri, a city just north of Kansas City, Missouri. He attended William Jewel College, a Baptist College in Liberty. He was a Baptist and held fast to his Christian upbringing! He was involved in several business enterprises including precious metals mining before God revealed for him what was to become his life’s true passion. He was selling cemetery property in a small cemetery in Glendale, California. He gained control of this small cemetery and immediately he began to dream and he envisioned great beauty and he set out to transform the grounds into what we see today as viewed through the magnificent and inspiring art, and the many beautiful gardens and stately buildings he has developed throughout Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks.
 
 Dr. Eaton had many dreams and many more ideas. In addition, his dreams and ideas seemed always to run concurrent with each other. He possessed the uncanny ability to often predict trends way ahead of most people engaged in the cemetery business. He was a man who was not afraid to implement bold steps and to do what he always felt God inspired him to want to accomplish. After all, Hubert Eaton would challenge himself to greater heights and likewise he always inspired his Forest Lawn associates to be free to make suggestions and to reveal any dreams they too might envision for Forest Lawn. As a close friend and a member of his personal advisory constituency, I too envisioned and appreciated his beliefs. He had very exact visions for Forest Lawn and he didn’t often compromise his ideas since he had always given so much before thought to his visions that he believed were given birth through his dreams that he believed were often inspired by God.

Attempts by some other mortuary operators were even filed with the state to “not allow” and to strongly object to such a thing as a mortuary being built on dedicated cemetery grounds.
 
Dr. Eaton prevailed with his plan and he moved ahead and built the first mortuary in a cemetery in the United States. He did this to be a convenience for Forest Lawn Memorial-Park families. He felt it would be a grand idea to assist families by having everything available in one location and this even included the Forest Lawn Flower Shop inside the mortuary. Time proved him right! The mortuary was a great success and continues to serve families today by offering the convenience of having mortuary and cemetery or Memorial-Park operations adjacent to one another.

Once the mortuary was completed and opened, Dr. Eaton coined the rather bold phrase: “Forest Lawn, Where One Call Does All!” In addition, another useful marketing phrase: “Complete Undertaking Services Available in One Location!”