The Wade Chapel

Download or read book The Wade Chapel written by Wayne Thomas Bifano and published by . This book was released on 2020-03 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The notion that Cleveland should have an elegant, restful, idyllic landscape in which to bury her citizens-regardless of race, creed or religion-was just an idea in 1869 when Jeptha Homer Wade (1811-1890) and two associates convened a group of Clevelanders who created Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery and elected Wade its first President. Three decades later, his grandson and namesake, Jeptha H. Wade II, commissioned the construction of Wade Chapel on the cemetery grounds as a memorial to his grandfather. This grandson, called Homer by family, hired Cleveland architects Hubbell and Benes to design the chapel. Cleveland stonemason Joseph Carabelli and his team of stonecutters, many of whom had immigrated from Campobasso, Italy to join Carabelli's firm, Lakeview Granite & Monumental Works, built the chapel's exterior. Wade chose internationally recognized designer Louis Comfort Tiffany and his hand-picked team of artists and artisans to decorate the chapel's interior.This book makes the Wade Chapel story available to us through the eyes of one guide, Wayne Bifano. Amazingly, at the 118 mark since the Chapel's dedication, this story has never before been composed in a book. Wayne Bifano, a dedicated steward of Wade Chapel and of Lake View Cemetery, has lovingly collected the jewels that make the Wade Chapel story.