Woodlawn Cemetery is a cemetery located at 19975 Woodward Avenue, opposite the Michigan State Fairgrounds, between 7 Mile Road and 8 Mile Road, in Detroit, Michigan.
The cemetery was established in 1895 and immediately attracted some of the most notable names in the city. The grounds encompass 140 acres (57 ha) and were planned by civil engineer Mason L. Brown and horticulturalist Frank Eurich. At the time of the first burial in 1896, Woodlawn was outside the city limits. Eurich also developed Woodlawn Cemetery in Toledo.
Waldo Avery (1858–1914) – founder of United States Gypsum
Bella Marshall Barden (1950–2012) – Wife of Don H. Barden and Wayne County Chief Operating Officer
Don H. Barden (1943–2011) – Casino Gaming and Cable Television Entrepreneur
Renaldo "Obie" Benson (1937–2005) – Member of Motown's Four Tops
Roy D. Chapin (1880–1936) – Industrialist, automaker and US Secretary of Commerce
Albert Cobo (1893–1957) – Mayor of Detroit
Howard A. Coffin (1877–1956) – Congressman
John Blaisdell Corliss (1851–1929) – Attorney, Congressman and father-in-law of George M. Holley
James J. Couzens (1872–1936 )– US Senator and Mayor of Detroit
Edgar Culbertson (1935–1967) – US Coast Guardsman and recipient of the Coast Guard Medal
Anna Thompson Dodge (1866–1970) – Widow of Horace Dodge and philanthropist
Horace Elgin Dodge (1868–1920) – Businessman and co-founder of Dodge Motors
John Francis Dodge (1864–1920) – Businessman and co-founder of Dodge Motors
George Duffield, Jr. (1818–1888) – Presbyterian minister and composer of Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
Dee Edwards (1945–2006) – Soul singer
Daisy Elliott (1917–2015) – Author and Co-sponsor of Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, Delegate to 1961–62 Constitution of Michigan convention and Michigan State Representative
Homer S. Ferguson (1889–1982) – US Senator, judge and diplomat
Edsel Ford (1893–1943) – Ford Motor Company president and son of Henry Ford
Eleanor Clay Ford (1896–1976) – Wife of Edsel Ford and niece of retailer J. L. Hudson
William Clay Ford, Sr. (1925–2014) – last surviving grandchild of Henry Ford
Clarence L. (C.L.) Franklin (1915–1984) – Baptist minister and father of singers Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin and Erma Franklin
Carolyn Franklin (1944–1988) – Gospel and R&B singer and younger sister of Aretha Franklin
Erma Franklin (1938–2002) – Gospel and R&B singer and older sister of Aretha Franklin
Harvey Fruehauf (1893–1968) – son of August Fruehauf and president of Fruehauf Trailer Corporation
Susie Garrett (1929–2002) – Actress, star of Punky Brewster and sister of actress Marla Gibbs
Alex Groesbeck (1873–1953) – Michigan Governor and Attorney General
Edgar Guest (1881–1959) – Writer and Poet Laureate of Michigan
Frank J. Hecker (1846–1927) – Railroad car manufacturer and business partner of art collector Charles Lang Freer
Billy Henderson (1939–2007) – Lead singer of The Spinners
George M. Holley Sr. (1878-1963) – Automotive engineer, designer and founder of Holley Carburetor
DeShaun Dupree "Proof" Holton (1973–2006)– Rap musician
Joseph L. Hudson (1846–1912) – Department store magnate
Michael Jackson (1958–2009) – American Recording Artist (a commemorative cenotaph, he is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale California)
James Jamerson (1938–1983) – Motown bass guitarist
James (Prophet) Jones (1907–1971) – prominent national and local religious leader during the 40s and 50s who was the first African American televangelist of Detroit and founder of the Church of Universal Triumph, Dominion of God, Inc.
Marv Johnson (1938–1993) – Motown/R&B singer
Julanne Johnston (1900–1988) – Silent Film actress
Ed Killian (1876–1928) – Major League Baseball pitcher
Alfred Lucking (1856–1929) – Congressman
Wade H. McCree (1920–1987) – Lawyer, judge, and US Solicitor General
Blair Moody (1902–1954) – US Senator and newspaper reporter
Elijah E. Myers (1832–1909) – Architect of the Colorado, Michigan and Texas State Capitols
James K. Okubo (1920–1967) – World War II US Army recipient of the Medal of Honor
Hazen Pingree (1840–1901) – Detroit Mayor and Michigan Governor
Rosa Parks (1913–2005) – Civil Rights activist
Edward Patten (1939–2005) – Member of Gladys Knight & The Pips
Lawrence Payton (1938–1997) – Member of Motown's Four Tops
Barbara Randolph (1942–2002) – Motown/R&B singer
David Ruffin (1941–1991) – Lead singer of The Temptations
Levi Stubbs (1936–2008) – Lead singer of Motown's Four Tops
George W. Trendle (1884–1972) – Creator of The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet
Carl M. Weideman (1898–1972) – Congressman
Ronald White (1938–1995) – Member of Motown's The Miracles
Richard Storrs Willis (1819–1900) – Composer of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and other hymns
Earl Wilson (1934–2005) – Major League baseball pitcher
Matilda Dodge Wilson – (1883–1967) Widow of John Dodge and Alfred Wilson, benefactor of Michigan State University – now Oakland University and Detroit's Music Hall and Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
Pop Winans (1934–2009) – gospel singer and patriarch of the gospel group the Winans family
Ronald Winans (1956–2005) – gospel singer and member of the gospel group the Winans family
There is one British Commonwealth war grave of a Canadian Private who served in World War I and died in 1919.
