Today, little is known about Samuel Howard, a 71-year-old Jewish man who died in 1959 and was buried at Las Vegas’ Woodlawn Cemetery.
Other than his birthday and his date of death, not much at all is known about Howard, but that didn’t stop the Las Vegas Valley’s Jewish community from honoring Howard, along with 51 other indigent Jews during an “Everyone Has a Name” headstone dedication ceremony Tuesday at the cemetery.
“In the Jewish tradition, it’s very important that people do not lay in unmarked graves,” said Rabbi Felipe Goodman, spiritual leader of Temple Beth Sholom. “Each person tells a story. Each person bears witness not only to their own life, but for the lives of our people.”
During a 45-minute ceremony Tuesday afternoon, several Jewish community leaders spoke words of thanks to those who have donated time and money to the headstone dedication effort.
Nearly two dozen braved a chilly March wind to sing traditional songs and listen as all 52 names were read, along with their birth date and date of death.
The ceremony isn’t annual. Goodman said Tuesday’s event marks only the second such ceremony in the past decade.
“In the old days, the county would take over and just bury the person,” Goodman said. “But these are human beings and not just something that we dispose of. We have to give them the dignity that they’re due, even if they couldn’t pay for a burial service or a headstone.”
Clark County does pay for some end-of-life costs for those can’t pay, but it doesn’t cover headstone or burial plot costs.
“We’re very thankful to Temple Beth Sholom for donating burial plots and for all the people who have donated money,” said Jay Poster, general manager of King David Memorial Chapel and Cemetery. “For the stone and the installation, you’re looking at $1,100 or $1,200 retail for each of these.”
Because of Tuesday’s windy conditions, the ceremony had to be altered slightly. The plan was for coverings to be removed from each headstone, though organizers decided instead to have attendees place painted rocks on each headstone.
On some graves, only a date of birth and date of death are listed. On others, more details may be shared. On Michael Greenspan’s headstone, he’s referred to as a “beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather” and a “great friend and beloved musician.”
In an obituary from 2021 following Greenspan’s death, a family member wrote “the years disappeared … and now, suddenly, he’s gone.”
As Jay Poster knows, all of us will eventually be gone.
But, if he and many others in the Las Vegas Jewish community have their way, nobody in the faith in the valley will be forgotten.
“Every life matters,” Poster said. “Whether they died with no family left to take care of it or they died and they didn’t have the funds, they deserve an honorable burial.”
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0399. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.
