The Lady in Red of SkyRose Chapel
Local Legend – Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, CA
Ask anyone who’s worked at Rose Hills long enough, and they’ll tell you about her.
They call her The Lady in Red—a tall, elegant woman who appears at funerals held at SkyRose Chapel. No one ever sees her arrive, and no one ever sees her leave. She just… appears. Standing still in the back, dressed in a striking red dress with a wide, matching hat that conceals her face in permanent shadow. She never speaks. She never cries. And no one, not once, has managed to see her face.
At first glance, some assume she’s just another mourner—But as services end, guests often ask the family:
“Who was that woman in red?”
The answer is always the same:
“We don’t know her.”
Some say she’s the grieving widow of a soldier buried long ago at Rose Hills, who never left. Others whisper that she lost someone she loved but never got the opportunity to mourn for him —so she mourns for all. A few even claim that those who see her up close are cursed to die within a year.
The truth? No one really knows.
But the Lady in Red continues to appear—funeral after funeral, decade after decade. A ghost? A guardian? A guilt-ridden soul?
Or maybe… she’s not there for the dead at all.
Maybe she’s waiting for someone still among the living.
