Marion’s Cherry Sisters will no longer lie in unmarked graves

MARION — Their sisters found more than 15 minutes of fame for being awful onstage, and now the stage is set for the two forgotten Cherry Sisters to step into a spotlight all their own.

Elizabeth and Ellen Cherry, known as Lizzie and Ella, died penniless in the 1930s and are buried in unmarked graves in Marion's Oak Shade Cemetery. Thanks to the efforts of a band of volunteers, headstones created and donated by Novak & Brannon Monuments in Marion will mark the sisters' final resting places. The markers, each sporting two red cherries, will be dedicated with a fitting touch of theatrical flair at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Because the graves are so far down in the cemetery full of steep hillsides, the ceremony will take place in front of the 1884 building that now serves as headquarters for the Friends of Oak Shade Cemetery. It's a quaint white building near the main entrance off Second Avenue. It would be right at home in a Grant Wood painting, and even has a concrete porch. That's where local artists Sonya Darrow and Kelly Shriver Kolln, who have developed a one-act play about the sisters, will deliver a eulogy, and Deep Dish Divas, an old-time music trio, will perform.

The public is invited to attend and bring lawn chairs for seating.

After the ceremony, the headstones will be taken to the sisters' gravesites, and affixed to concrete slabs. Anyone who would like to follow is welcome, said Jay Kacena, 78, of Marion. He spearheaded the recognition effort as a member of the Friends group and vice president of the Marion Heritage Center, where the headstones have been on display this month.

Lizzie and Ella played a fleeting role in the Cherry Sisters' vaudeville-style act, formed in desperation in 1893.

After their father died, the five sisters, their mother and brother moved from Springville to a small farm near Marion. Their mother died shortly thereafter, and their brother disappeared, Kacena said, leaving the girls on their own. Believing him to be in Chicago, the sisters set out to earn enough money to look for him there.

Addie, Effie and Jessie put together a variety show that debuted to a packed crowd at the Marion Opera House in 1893. Buoyed by waves of enthusiastic cheers and jeers, they took their show on the road to Greene's Opera House in Cedar Rapids, adding Lizzie and Ella to their ranks. A Gazette review panned the performance, saying, 'At one minute the scene was like the incurable ward in an insane asylum, the next like a Methodist camp meeting.'

That didn't stop the stalwart sister act.

More boos and aahs and scathing reviews followed them through stops in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Chicago and other Midwest sites. But when the act was booked for a monthlong engagement on Broadway in 1896, Lizzie and Ella bowed out to stay on the farm.

'So these are what we call 'our Cherry Sisters,' '

Kacena said, noting that the other sisters are buried at Linwood Cemetery in Cedar Rapids.

Ella died March 12, 1934, and Lizzie died May 11, 1936. While Kacena said their birth dates couldn't be pinpointed for sure, the fact that they lived and died is now etched in stone.

[naviga:h3 style="padding-left: 30px;"]IF YOU GO

What: Ella & Lizzie Cherry Memorial Service

Where: Oak Shade Cemetery, 789 Second Ave., Marion

When: 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday

Features: Dedication of headstones made for the two sisters; eulogy by Sonya Darrow and Kelly Shriver Kolln; music by Deep Dish Divas.

Admission: Free; bring lawn chairs

l Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com