Martial arts legend Bruce Lee rests today atop Capitol HIll in Lake View Cemetery. Friday would have been his 80th birthday.

CHS visited the site earlier this week. Resting next to the grave of his son Brandon Lee, Bruce’s headstone was covered as usual with its mix of flowers and coins. The grave sites atop a hill with an eastern view are a popular place to visit to pay respect to the masters.

Hours at Lake View are currently limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. The non-profit managed facility is also undertaking a small construction project around the graves. We checked in with the management about the project multiple times but Lake View’s office never got back to us. The organization has faced a challenging year with the ongoing pandemic and controversy surrounding the removal of a Confederate monument from the cemetery.

The construction fencing, meanwhile, will serve as an unfortunate background on what will likely be a busy weekend for visitors.

CHS visited the graves last in 2013 as hundreds visited to mark the 40th anniversary of Lee’s death. Those decades earlier, a Capitol Hill mortuary that is now the Pine Box beer hall hosted the funeral where Lee was mourned by Hollywood stars, family and friends on July 30th, 1973 following a massive public funeral in Hong Kong. Steve McQueen, Chuck Norris, James Coburn and George Lazenby served as pallbearers.

Born in San Francisco, how Bruce Lee ended up buried in Lake View and, in the end, an eternal citizen of Seattle was a family decision. Daughter Shannon Lee told the Seattle Times her mother Linda Lee Caldwell “started thinking back to when life was simple and when were they the most happy.

“It was when they lived in Seattle. It’s where they fell in love and started their journey together,” Lee’s daughter said

Lake View Cemetery is located at 1554 15th Ave E. Hours for visiting the cemetery have been weekdays 1 PM to 5 PM and 9 AM to 5 PM on the weekends. Learn more at lakeviewcemeteryassociation.com.

PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.