Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery — Local services in Proviso Township

Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery – A Tranquil Landmark of History and Art

Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, offers a peaceful and beautifully maintained space where history, architecture, and reflection converge.

Grounds and Atmosphere

Spanning 214 acres, the cemetery features gently rolling lawns, mature trees, and seasonal floral displays. Curved pathways and shaded benches invite quiet reflection, while the overall layout fosters a sense of calm and reverence.

Monuments and Mausoleums

With over 400 private mausoleums and countless ornate headstones, Mount Carmel showcases a wide range of funerary architecture:

• Neo-Gothic and Italianate tombs with carved stonework and marble facades • Art Deco crypts adorned with bronze and geometric reliefs • Statues of angels and saints, many life-sized and intricately detailed • The Bishops’ Mausoleum, a mosaic-lined chapel beneath a copper dome

Each structure reflects the craftsmanship and cultural heritage of generations past.

Notable Burials

Mount Carmel is known for its connection to Chicago’s organized crime history:

• Al Capone – Infamous mob boss tied to bootlegging and the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre • Sam Giancana – Chicago Outfit leader with national influence • Frank Nitti, Vincent Drucci, Dean O’Banion – Key figures in Prohibition-era gang wars • Dennis Farina – Actor and former police officer • Cardinal Joseph Bernardin – Respected Archbishop of Chicago

A Place for Reflection and Research

Visitors can sit, reflect, and explore the cemetery’s rich history through its monuments and inscriptions. Whether seeking quiet remembrance or historical insight, Mount Carmel offers a dignified and...

Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, is a place I visit often not just because my best friend rests here, but because it feels like a quiet, sacred corner where memories and peace linger in the air. There’s something about the way the sunlight filters through the old oak trees or how the wind rustles the leaves around the headstones that makes grief feel a little softer here.

This cemetery isn’t flashy, and that’s what I love about it. It’s simple, well kept, and honest. The older sections, with their worn in stone markers and statues of angels, have this quiet nostalgia, like they’ve been holding stories for decades. I always notice the Catholic touches crosses, plaques with prayers, and little shrines to Mary tucked between the graves. It feels rooted in faith without being overbearing, which matters when you’re trying to find comfort.

Yeah, there are “famous” people buried at Mount Carmel but to me, it’s more about the little things. The bench near my friend’s grave where I can sit and talk to him. The way autumn leaves collect around the base of his headstone, or how the snow muffles everything in winter, like the world’s pressing pause. It’s not perfect what cemetery is? but it’s got heart.

If you’ve lost someone, especially someone you loved fiercely, Mount Carmel doesn’t try to sugarcoat that pain. Instead, it gives you space to feel it, surrounded by old trees, quiet prayers, and the sense that you’re not alone. My best friend picked a good spot. It’s a place I can miss him, but also smile knowing he’s somewhere that...

Beautiful, well kept cemetery. Lots of land coverage and can be easy to get turned around. We visited for a couple of reasons family lineage as well as including the opportunity as some tourist do, to see the final resting places of those with rich history in the Chicago area. It is not the easiest place to navigate around, easily got lost, and couldn't locate a cemetery map for the location of the section of the cemetery.we were in. Using a cellphone map lol as I'm sure most know becomes extremely more difficult to use when in a cemetery. The burial location finder is also not easy to locate either. When we visited we were told to actually drive further up the road turn right go onto another road, go into gated area, drive all the way to the back, go through double doors to get access to kiosk to complete search. Granted, great directions from the person they had at front gate. Would be easier to have outside kiosk within both locations since the cemetery itself is so magnificently large. It would be nice to also have a more user friendly search capability, for inputting small amounts of details that produce results and ways to filter the results. This can help potentially locate whom you're searching when known details are limited. Almost every headstone very well taken care of, not covered by overgrown bushes, well manicured. Although, there did seem to be changes in ground surfaces that were making some items tilt and could see needing attention in the future to stop from it sinking or completely...