Fitzgerald’s final resting place. A curious spot for a man who embodied the roaring twenties. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the chronicler of the Jazz Age, lies buried here in Rockville, Maryland, at St. Mary’s Church Historic Cemetery. It seems an unlikely ending for a man who painted vibrant pictures of New York City, Paris, and Long Island’s opulent shores.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, born in 1896, became synonymous with the 1920s. His novels, particularly “The Great Gatsby,” captured the era’s exuberance and anxieties. Yet, his personal life, like his most famous character, Jay Gatsby, was marked by a pursuit of a dream that ultimately slipped away. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s journey to this quiet Rockville cemetery is a story in itself.
Fitzgerald’s family had deep roots in the area. His father, Edward, was born on a farm near Rockville. Edward shared stories with young F. Scott about aiding Confederate spies during the Civil War. This local connection would eventually bring Fitzgerald back to Maryland, but not in the way he might have imagined. His life was a whirlwind of literary success, lavish parties, and a tumultuous marriage to Zelda Sayre. The same Zelda who now rests beside him.
After a string of personal and professional setbacks, including Zelda’s struggles with mental illness and his own battle with alcoholism, Fitzgerald died of a heart attack in Hollywood in 1940. He was only 44. His final wish, a modest funeral, reflected his diminished circumstances. Initially, F. Scott Fitzgerald was denied burial at St. Mary’s. His perceived lack of adherence to Catholic practices barred him from the family plot. He was laid to rest in a nearby cemetery, a temporary exile.
Zelda Fitzgerald, despite her own hardships, ensured that F. Scott’s initial burial was nearby. Years later, in 1975, a local women’s club championed their cause. The church finally relented. F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald were reunited in their rightful place at St. Mary’s. Their gravestone bears the poignant closing line of “The Great Gatsby”: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, the icon of a bygone era, found his final peace in this unassuming cemetery, a reminder that even the most dazzling lives eventually return to the earth.