SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Oak Ridge Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 77 thousand people, and on its 365 acres of land is its most famous resident - Abraham Lincoln.

Visitors come to the cemetery to see Lincoln's Tomb every day, but on their way, it's hard to miss the tomb of Mr. Accordion.

Mr. Accordion, otherwise known as Roy Bertelli, was a renowned accordion player who grew up in Springfield.

Kate Carney, a friend of Bertelli, said his grave is big and bold just like he was.

"As you come in, this is the first thing you see," Carney said. "You can see the [Lincoln] monument, but you also see his headstone."

Mr. Accordion's grave is front and center at Oak Ridge Cemetery, and Michael Lelys, the cemetery director, said this mysterious tomb has had people asking questions for decades.

"There are visitors that stop in the office and ask if we have any other information about him," Lelys said.

According to Lelys, he knew Bertelli long before he was buried in the cemetery.

"I took accordion lessons from Roy when I was growing up," Lelys said.

According to his friend Carney, Bertelli always dreamed of being buried at Oak Ridge.

"He was so funny, but it was all about Roy," Carney said. "He wanted to be buried here at Oak Ridge, because it was right front and center."

Bertelli was able to secure a plot in the cemetery, but according to Lelys, it was all a mistake.

"After he was sold the internment rights, the cemetery contacted him and said they made a mistake. This is the key or the primary focal point for the entrance of the [Lincoln's] tomb, and I imagine they caught wind of the fact he wanted to put a feature like this up," Lelys said. "They didn't want it as a distraction of people viewing the tomb."

When Bertelli found out the cemetery wasn't going to sell him the rights, Lelys said he wasn't happy. But after winning a legal battle, he was able to regain the rights to the land and on top of it, he build a large above ground tomb that showed his lifelong dedication to his favorite instrument.

"He called himself Mr. Accordion, because that was his thing," Carney said.

Legend has it Bertelli was actually buried somewhere else, but Oak Ridge records said differently. 

"Our records do reflect his remains are located within this crypt," Lelys said.