Alta Mesa is a non-denominational cemetery that was established in 1904 in Palo Alto, California. I visited on a crisp winter morning and I have to say that wandering the graves was an incredibly serene experience. There’s not a lot in the way of cemetery “art” or sculpting showmanship; the graves here are modest and subtle.
In the world of technology, Alta Mesa is a who’s who of Silicon Valley. A large number of the inventors, creators, and brilliant minds of Silicon Valley are interred here. And, to add further colour into the mix, periodically as you wander you will stumble upon a musician, writer or actor whose name is familiar.
The Brilliant Minds of Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley most likely started with Lewis Madison Terman (Mausoleum 1)… a successful Psychologist who is known as the father of Educational Psychology and who devoted his life to the study of gifted children. In our own life, we have a lot to thank him for, starting with the Stanford-Binet IQ test and leading into the realm of Gifted Education.
In the literal world, he was the father of Frederick Terman (Mausoleum 1), who is known as the father of Silicon Valley. I’m pretty confident in saying that Lewis probably had a huge influence on the mind of his son, who grew up to become a professor at Stanford University and eventually the Dean of the School of Engineering.
Frederick Terman is widely known to be the mentor of William Hewlett and David Packard (Plot A). He encouraged the two to start their own business (rather than work for a company) and the result was Hewlett-Packard.
The influence doesn’t end here… David Packard is known to be an idol and friend of Steve Jobs and the inspiration for many of Jobs’ choices in Apple. In his early career, Jobs worked at Hewlett-Packard and continued to support the company throughout his life. The rumour in Silicon Valley is that Steve wanted to be buried next to David and his wife Lucille. This may or may not be true; regardless, he is buried in Alta Mesa in an unmarked grave.
Ron “Pigpen” McKernan
Three years after Jimi Hendrix and Janis Jolin became members of the 27 Club in 1970, and two years after Jim Morrison, they were all joined by the original lead singer of the Grateful Dead: Ron McKernan (Hillview Sec. 16), who died from a gastrointestinal hemorrhage possibly caused by Crohn’s Disease.
I found the decorations on his headstone worth a look. It seems that many fans still visit his grave and are tasteful in what they leave behind.
Laurel Section
I’m not sure what this section of the graveyard is named but there is a beautiful memorial in Japanese overlooking the graves of people who would have likely lived through the Second World War in Japan or experienced Japanese Internment in the US. The birth dates on the headstones are before World War I and the death dates are post World War II.
