Old oak tree cut down at historic funeral home

By Rachel Tobin Ramos

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A historic funeral home had a loss of its own over the weekend.

The last of three original oak trees planted in 1928 had to be cut down at H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill Chapel in Midtown Atlanta.

“It broke all of our hearts,” said John Gallatin, a funeral director and the location manager. “We were pretty fond of the tree.”

It was among three original willow oaks planted when the funeral home was built in 1928, he said. The others already were removed. One went down in a storm, he said.

Renowned architect Philip Shutze designed Spring Hill to resemble an old English manor. On the north side of the building, there is a sunken garden surrounded by a horseshoe driveway.

The tree was on the east, and if it fell, could have been a disturbance on busy Spring Street or damaged the funeral home, Gallatin said.

Three arborists inspected the tree, he said, and all agreed that it had a fungus that was making the roots rot. Atlanta issued a permit to remove the tree, Gallatin said.

The Midtown funeral home has handled services for many notable Atlantans, including “Gone with the Wind” author Margaret Mitchell, who died in 1949.