Why ‘The Great Gatsby’ Writer was Buried in Maryland

“The Great Gatsby” is considered one of the great American classic novels. Written in 1925, it captured the spirit of the Jazz Age, the insatiability of the Prohibition Era, and explored the disillusionment of the “American Dream.”

Though author F. Scott Fitzgerald may be more associated with Long Island, New York (the setting of his famous book), St. Paul, Minnesota (where he was born), or Los Angeles (where he passed), Fitzgerald’s final resting place is actually in Rockville.

The Lost Generation author’s family roots are in Maryland, and he was believed to have been very proud of his origins. He was born Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald in 1896, and his distant cousin was Francis Scott Key of “The Star-Spangled Banner” lore.

When Fitzgerald passed in 1940, his only known instructions requested “the cheapest funeral” possible. His wife, Zelda Fitzgerald, knew that he would have liked to have been buried at the family plot at the Catholic cemetery in Rockville.

But, having been considered an alternative thinker at the time with a hard-living reputation, the church refused, saying he was “unfit to be buried in consecrated ground.” So Zelda paid for him to be buried a mile down the road at Rockville Cemetery. She joined him eight years later.

The great novelist and wild party boy got his wish in the end. In 1975, members of the Rockville Women’s Club saw that the grave was deteriorating, and along with living family members, they petitioned the Archbishop of Washington, William Baum, to have Fitzgerald’s remains moved to St. Mary’s Church Cemetery. The archbishop gave his blessing, acknowledging Fitzgerald’s “poetic imagination” and that his characters were “seeking God and seeking grace.”

You can visit the historic cemetery in Rockville. Many have honored the adored author and his wife by leaving pens, pencils, and booze at their tombstone.