James W. Faulkner - Death and Funeral

Death and Funeral

While attending the American Newspaper Publisher's Association convention, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, Faulkner became ill, complaining of indigestion. He stayed at the hotel and was attended by a physician, but died during night on May 5, 1923 of a heart attack. Upon his death many notable statements were issued by President Warren G. Harding, Governor Alvin V. Donahey, and former governors James A. Cox and Judson Harmon.

Faulkner's body was escorted from New York to Cincinnati by his sisters, Mary and Martha Faulkner. The body was taken to the home of Thomas J. Mulvihill, his brother-in-law and an undertaker, where the viewing would take place. The Requiem Mass was celebrated at St. Xavier Church in Cincinnati and burial was at Calvary Cemetery. The funeral was attended by former Ohio governors, many newspaper officials, Cincinnati City leaders. His pallbearers were: William F. Wiley, Herbert R. Mengert, Jasper C. Muma, Robert F. Wolfe, Judson Harmon, James M. Cox, William A. Stewart, Bayard L. Kilgour, William Alexander Julian, Russell A. Wilson, W. F. Burdell and Nicholas Longworth. On orders from Washington, DC the Stars and Stripes at the local Federal building in Cincinnati was displayed at half-mast during Faulkner’s funeral – the first time in the history of Cincinnati that the flag had been lowered as a mark of respect for a private citizen.