Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 29, 2007
Contact: Dr. Kenneth Durr
E-mail: kdurr@historyassociates.com
Telephone: (301) 279-9697

HAI Helps Fairfax Memorial Park Celebrate Its Anniversary

History Associates Incorporated historian Garry E. Adelman has completed Families First, an illustrated history of Northern Virginia's Fairfax Memorial Park. Founded in 1957 by Cornelius H. Doherty, Fairfax Memorial Park is one of an ever-shrinking number of family-owned and -operated cemeteries in the United States. Cornelius's son, Cornelius H. Doherty, Jr., and grandson, Michael H. Doherty, continue the tradition of personal service that has guided their management of the 128-acre cemetery since its beginning.

The Doherty family has faced challenges over the years as the memorial park changed from a small Catholic cemetery to a large non-sectarian park. Through financial hard times, a changing Catholic Church, dynamic local politics, intense competition, and personal family loss, the Dohertys always stuck to the core principle of the institution—the needs of families come first. This key principle carried on to the funeral home opened by the Dohertys adjacent to the cemetery in 2003. Families First tells the fascinating story of how a small, Catholic cemetery has emerged fifty years later as Northern Virginia's premier cemetery and funeral home facility.

The Dohertys invited the author to Fairfax Memorial Park's 50th anniversary celebration on May 29. There, Adelman discussed the process of the history project and provided a summary history of the park. Cornelius H. Doherty, Jr., exclaimed, "The books look absolutely fantastic and we loved your presentation! Thanks to HAI for all the hard work." To view the book, click here.

About History Associates Incorporated: For more than twenty-five years the historians and archivists at History Associates Incorporated have demonstrated that history is valuable in the market as well as the marketplace of ideas. HAI's nearly sixty employees provide professional historical research, writing, exhibit content, archives, and records management services to clients throughout the United States and around the world. HAI serves these corporate, government, and nonprofit clients from its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, with an office in Brea, California. History Associates strives to be The Best Company in History®. For more information, call (301) 279-9697 or visit www.historyassociates.com.