Dr. Eaton was a very sentimental gentleman, to say the least! He was sensitive to the degree that he really understood the deep and abiding sorrow people were experiencing when his Forest Lawn Memorial-Park & Mortuary was called upon to render their professional cemetery and undertaking services.

I saw this very sensitive man show great emotion on any number of occasions. I will now share something I understood about Dr. Eaton from my personal experience. One is always surrounded by inspiring and great works of art throughout the grounds in the statutory and in the magnificent engraved images and other art found in each Forest Lawn Memorial-Park.

One morning I was visiting with Dr. Eaton in his office and we were discussing some of the beautiful stained-glass windows, and I asked him what, or if, he had any particular favorite window in Forest Lawn in Glendale. We climbed into his automobile and he accompanied me up to The Great Mausoleum. We walked across to the second floor level in the Mausoleum’s Holly Terrace to the distant Grand Staircase and there before us, halfway up this staircase, was such a stunning stained-glass window filled with images of children discovering their wonderful gifts at the base of a most beautiful and luminous Christmas Tree. A soft distinct vision of Christ hovers over this tree.

I cannot fully explain the deep sense of awe I experienced because Dr. Eaton was quite emotional as he pointed to this amazing Christmas Window, and he explained its meaning, and that this evergreen tree was truly symbolic of Eternal Life, and then he recalled the words inscribed at the base in this most inspiring Christmas stained-glass window.  The words read:

                               “My little children, let us not love in word, neither
                                             in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”

To everyone reading this, my personal tribute to Dr. Hubert L. Eaton, I must say that I know now, and I certainly understood so many years ago, that this man was truly inspired by God to dream and to create the absolutely and completely inspiring art found in the architecture, and the quaint and inspiring churches, (available daily for funeral and memorial services, and as well, for many wedding ceremonies), the original and re-created world renowned statuary, replicas of Michelangelo’s greatest works such as Moses, David, and LaPieta, each quarried from the same marble quarry in Italy where the original works were mined by Michelangelo and sculptured for the Vatican many centuries ago, the many stained-glass depictions, the countless gardens, the lovely fountains, and in the great original oil canvas by renowned Polish artist Jan Styka’s, depiction of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Christ. This canvas measures 195 feet in length and is 45 feet high and is the world’s largest oil painting.  This oil canvas is prominently displayed and beautifully presented daily in Forest Lawn in Glendale in The Hall of The Crucifixion-Resurrection and was dedicated on Good Friday in 1951.

Dr. Eaton was inspired at such a profoundly personal deep level that his critics often failed to understand, and perhaps even on a primary level, or clearly comprehend, the magnificent art that Dr. Eaton brought to life. Most of this renowned art has been available for generations for visitors to enjoy and to hopefully even inspire people to perhaps believe in and love God, and to also be excited and inspired by this great art!

I personally believe Dr. Eaton always intended for visitors to come to Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks. He not only encouraged his friends, he also believed the public would appreciate the varied and inspired settings he created in each of the Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks. From the outset, Forest Lawn established regulations and rules in regard to people’s actions and attitudes while visiting each one of the Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks. After all, when one visits Forest Lawn, one must always remember that he or she is a guest, and to be most respectful of others, and to always govern one’s self accordingly!

Even the limited art displayed in private areas in some Forest Lawn Mausoleums, that was generally not intended for everyone to view because of privacy covenants agreed to by “The Builder.”
 

I will be contributing more content to my tribute to Dr. Eaton in the coming months and years. Thanks for reading my thoughts and my tribute published so far! I continue to be inspired by Dr. Eaton because he was one of the most remarkable individuals I have ever been privileged to have as a part of my life.  I do so miss his physical presence, his spirituality and wisdom, and his dry and witty humor, and yet, and on a deeply spiritual level, Dr. Hubert Eaton will always live and I do plan on seeing him again in Heaven!  Devotedly yours,

                             Charles E. Disney.