138 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {landmark} alta mesa memorial park The final resting place of Civil War veterans, CEOs and celebrities, Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto was established as a nondenominational cemetery in 1904. Amid 72 acres of grassy fields and oak trees, some of the moss-covered gravestones remain unmarked, sometimes for privacy or religious reasons, sometimes giving the family time to find the right words. Among these anonymous inhabitants rests Steve Jobs. In an effort to prevent headstone hunting, the cemetery created a book in the lobby for visitors to write messages to the deceased CEO of Apple. Praise and the occasional taunt fill the pages of the book, but the search for the famous gravesite continues. Jobs isn’t the only tech titan in residence. David Packard of HP and William Shockley (who put the “silicon” in Silicon Valley) also call Alta Mesa their final resting place. Other notable figures include Birge Clark, a preeminent Palo Alto architect, and Shirley Temple, the acclaimed actress, dancer and diplomat. Not only the beloved of the deceased visit this memorial park. The Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance and other birders have found the cemetery to be an avian hotspot. The grounds host sparrows in its hedges and meadowlarks on its mausoleums. Black phoebes perch on its gravestones on the lookout for lunch, then swoop after insects. These lively little guests add flashes of color among the gray statues and stones, punctuating the silence with outbursts of birdsong. words by KAYA GERSICK • photography by ROBB MOST
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