That Grave

The Story of How Gary Cooper Came to be Buried in Southampton

By TJ Clemente

Appearing in 92 films over a career that lasted 35 years, Gary Cooper was an American icon. Who can ever forget his portrayal of Lou Gerhig in The Pride Of the Yankees? He recited the famous line, “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” standing there in front of 75,000 fans paying tribute at Yankee Stadium to their dying star. John Barrymore called Gary Cooper the world’s greatest actor.

Born Frank James Cooper in Helena, Montana on May 7, 1901, Cooper seemed at home on the screen whether he was playing a cowboy or a socialite. He spent some years being schooled in England and also spent a summer as a guide at Yellowstone Park. Eventually his parents moved to California where, by chance, he landed a role as an “extra” in a “B” movie. That was the beginning of his illustrious career.

Married to socialite Veronica “Rocky” Galfe, the daughter of Wall Street legend Paul Shields, Gary Cooper spent many summer nights in the guesthouse of his father-in-law’s home in the Ox Pasture section of Southampton. Gary enjoyed rounds of golf with his father-in-law at National Golf Course. Swede Edwards, the sixty-eight year old owner of North Sea Radiator and Towing, was often his caddy. He remembers what a fine gentleman Gary Cooper was. “He was as nice as he was good looking,” Swede Edwards recalls.

When Gary Cooper passed away on May 13, 1961 after a battle with cancer, he was buried in the Grotto Section of Holy Cross Cemetery located outside of Los Angeles in Culver City. However, when his widow remarried and moved back to Long Island, she had Gary Cooper’s remains dug up and flown to New York to be buried at the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Southampton. Rocky Shields Cooper purchased a three-ton, rose-colored boulder from the local undertaker and had it placed in the immediate area of the grave in remembrance of Gary Cooper’s Montana roots and his California home. Legend has it that the rock came from Montana, but in fact, Swede Edwards says the rock came from East Hampton. The rock was delivered to the cemetery in a dump truck and was left on the spot where the grave was to be dug. Swede Edwards, a friend of the son of the undertaker who was to handle the reburial of Mr. Cooper, was asked to bring his 1956 International tow truck to move the rock about 10 feet so that the grave could be dug. A short time after the burial, Swede was called back to move the giant boulder onto a concrete foundation, where it remains today. Swede recalls how Rocky Cooper was very attentive to where and how the rock was to be positioned. He also recalls how she was moved that Swede had known Mr. Cooper and her famous dad from the golf course and was so pleased with job he did.

Still today at The Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in Southampton, the rock shades the graves of Gary Cooper and Veronica “Rocky” Galfe Cooper together forever in eternal sleep.

The well-liked actor was everyman. He was tall, handsome, and friendly. He smiled freely and is forever to be seen in so many of his classic films. Upon his death in 1961, a German publication wrote the following tribute, “He was the symbol of trust, confidence and protection. He is dead now. What a miracle that he existed.” Or as his former caddy Swede Edwards said, “He was always a regular guy.”