Mary Ann Statler

By Patrick Kavanagh
History of Women in Forest Lawn Lawn Cemetery

Section 16, Lot 165
Date of Death: 8/4/1915
(Mother of Ellsworth Statler, Hotel)

Hotel magnate, Ellsworth Statler's mother.

Statler's first business venture in Buffalo, NY. was a restaurant in the newly constructed Ellicott Square Building opened in 1896). When this venture began to fail, Statler worked with building owner, John N. Scatchard, to change the style of restaurant service to provide counter service, faster table service and a more standardized menu (the beginnings of modern restaurant service).

Statler built his first hotel in 1908 at the corner of Washington and Swan (behind the Ellicott Square Building) in Buffalo, NY. Statler went on to build hotels in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1912, and the 2nd Statler Hotel in Buffalo in 1921.

Statler developed the concept of a central core housing electrical, plumbing and heating equipment. This configuration is used in all modern high-rise structures.

It was Statler who designed a hotel room that would house the amenities that we have come to expect today: desk with writing paper, lamps and a table near the bed for reading, private bath rooms.

In 1954 Conrad Hilton purchased the Statler assets and the chain of hotels became known as Statler-Hilton. One Statler Hotel still remains. Located in the Finger Lakes region of New York, this hotel is used as a training ground for future hotel managers and persons working in the travel industry.

Even though Ellsworth Statler owns Section 16/Lot 165 where his Mother, Sister Lillian V Wincher, and other family members are buried, Statler, who died in 1928, is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, NY. At the time of Mrs. Statler's death she was living at 139 Middlesex in Buffalo.


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