Cemeteries

About

In 2004, Goshen City Council passed an ordinance which established a Department of Cemeteries, combining the management of cemeteries under a Director and a Board of Cemetery Trustees. The Board, which consists of five members, are appointed by the Mayor of Goshen and meet four times a year.

Official cemetery records are maintained, deeds are issued, and payments are processed through the Clerk-Treasurer’s office, located at 202 S. 5th Street.  Contact them at 574-533-8625.

Cemetery fees are set by the City Council. Current fees were adopted at the January 18, 2022, City Council meeting in Ordinance 5114.

The 2025 fees can be found here.

The “Cemetery Information & Regulations” document contains decorating guidelines and other information pertinent to cemetery patrons.

Contact us:

Monday through Friday from 7:00am- 3:00pm EST.

Our cemeteries:

Oakridge Cemetery

The earliest known burial at Oakridge Cemetery was in 1832. The trustees of First Methodist Church founded the cemetery in 1839 and passed it to the City of Goshen in 1859. The property (over forty acres) is located off N. 1^st Street, north of the railroad crossing.

Oakridge contains numerous historic burials including several mayors of Goshen, the first Postmaster, and veterans from every major American war. The cemetery includes unique sections such as Eastern Orthodox, Forest of Remembrance, Grand Army of Republic, International Organization of Odd Fellows, Potter’s Field, and Sharis Israel (Jewish Congregation).

Oakridge Cemetery is located at 435 North 1^st Street, Goshen Indiana.

Burial sites are available at Oakridge, for inquiries please contact the Cemetery.

West Goshen Cemetery 

Burial sites are available at West Goshen, for inquiries please contact the Cemetery.

Violett Cemetery

Located at 2818 Violett Road, Violett Cemetery is named after the pioneer family that first owned the forty plus acre property. John H. Violett acquired the land in 1833 from the U.S. Government. The first known burial at Violett was in 1839.

Violett was first established as the Waterford Cemetery Association in 1873 and later passed to the City of Goshen in 1897.

Burial sites are available at Violett, for inquiries please contact the Cemetery.

Dierdorff Cemetery

Dierdorff Cemetery is a small pioneer-area cemetery, about ¾ acre, located at 2000 S. Main just south of Goshen College.  One of the first burials here was likely Elizabeth Dierdorff, daughter of German Baptist pioneer Peter Dierdorff, on their way to Iowa in the early 1830s. The property was purchased and established as a cemetery by Peter Dierdorff in 1854.

It has been maintained by the City of Goshen since 1976 but was incorporated into the Cemetery Department in recent years.

No burial sites are available here.

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Commonly Asked Questions:

How can I find a burial?

Goshen Cemeteries, in partnership with the Goshen Engineering Department, maintains an interactive database for City Cemeteries. Using GIS technology, it is now easier than ever to find a loved one and easily locate them within the cemeteries.  The link can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

To locate a burial, To locate a burial at Violett click here. 

To locate a burial at Oakridge click here.

To locate a burial at West Goshen Cemetery, click here. Or scan the QR code on the shop door located at the cemetery the inquiry is at.

Scan the QR code on the shop door, then:

1. Your web browser will ask for permission when you open the link for the first time.
2. You can search by name; make sure to select the correct person if more than one name comes up.
3. Click on the compass icon (Find my location).
4. There should now be two points on your screen, one is the location of the burial and the other is your current location. When the two points come together on the map you should be within ten feet of the burial. Some burials may not have monuments.

What Is Required to Bring Cremated Remains to City Cemeteries?

In all cases the following are required:

Under Indiana statute, a funeral director should be present whenever a graveside service for a burial, inurnment, or scattering takes place. It is your responsibility to contact a funeral director and arrange for their presence.

An Indiana Transit Permit which can be obtained from the funeral home. This is a different document from a cremation certificate. This permit must be presented to cemetery manager prior to internment.

A specific type of container is required for most dispositions.  See the specific option for those requirements.

The cemetery manager should be notified at least two business days ahead of the date/time of the planned disposition.  The dimensions of the vault to be used must also be provided to the staff in advance.

Fees must be paid in advance of the internment, either through the funeral home or directly to the cemetery manager.

What Options Are the for the Disposition of Cremated Remains?

Goshen City Cemeteries currently offers five options for the disposition of cremated remains which are listed below in approximate order of cost, from most to least.

Ground burial in a traditional cemetery space offers the greatest flexibility. These burial spaces are available for sale in all three active cemeteries.  Traditional types of monuments and markers can be used to memorialize the deceased. Up to four cremated remains may be buried on a space.  If a casket burial exists on a space, cremated remains cannot be buried there. Use of a vault or urn-vault of concrete, unbreakable plastic, or other rigid durable material is required for ground burial.

Columbarium niches are available for purchase at the Violett Cremation Garden to inurn cremated remains. The internal dimensions of these niches are 11.25” X 11.25” X 11.25”.  Depending on size and shape of the container, two cremated remains may be inurned.  Any urn used here must be non-biodegradable.  Niche cover engraving is arranged and billed through a local vendor.

Ground burial in a single cremation burial space provides space for only one cremation.  These are available in the Violett Cremation Garden. Bronze 8.5” X 5.5” plaques, mounted to a concrete runner, memorialize the deceased. Use of a vault or urn-vault of concrete, unbreakable plastic, or other rigid durable material is required for ground burial.

Burial under a tree is something many people talk about.  The Forest of Remembrance at Oakridge Cemetery allows a loved one’s cremated remains to be placed under a newly planted sapling tree.  Spring or fall plantings may be scheduled with a choice of trees available. A “Living Urn” must be used for this burial.  Memorialization is limited in this situation to a tree-affixed tag.

The scattering area in the Violett Cremation Garden provides an area, planted with flowering perennials, in which ashes can be scattered.  This least expensive option includes the mounting of a vinyl plaque on a permanent sign in commemoration of the deceased. A signed scattering agreement must be returned to the cemetery manager prior to the scattering.

Do You Have Spring Clean-up?

Yes, Spring Clean-Up occurs Monday to Friday the first whole week of April (April 7^th– 11^th in 2025). Items likely to be removed by staff during spring clean-up include old silk flowers (especially if they are in the way of trimmers), broken items, old flags, plush items, old frames and wires, glass items, and out-of-date seasonal items.               

If you have items that you are concerned about, please remove them before the clean-up begins.

How Do I Purchase a Burial Plot?

Contact the manager of the cemetery where you wish to be interred for an appointment. They can show what is available during regular weekday hours between 7am and 3pm. Checks should be made out to the City of Goshen.

What is a Family Burial Plot?

Families often have an old cemetery deed from their parents or grandparents. Sometimes they assume that possession of that deed puts them in possession of the burial rights to any unused spaces. That is not the case.

If the owner of the unused spaces is deceased and they were not specifically transferred in a will, they have become a Family Burial Plot under Indiana statute. The owner’s living spouse, children and parents have the right to be buried “at need” on these spaces and after their passing other potential heirs.

However, to preplan a burial and place a monument or to bury someone other than a spouse, child or parents of the owner, permission must be given, or these spaces need to be transferred to a living person.

A common example would be the parents bought four spaces and were buried on two, leaving two unused. There are three living adult children. If any of those children dies unexpectedly, they could be buried “at need” on one of the remaining spaces without written permission. However, if the spouse of one of the children dies and needs a burial space, all three children must give written permission. Or, if all three children agree to give the remaining spaces to one of them for future use, they must all give written permission.

The City of Goshen has a legal interest in ensuring that the right to use spaces on a family burial plot is protected. Affidavits are available through the Cemetery offices or from the City Clerk-Treasurer’s office. Once completed and notarized, they should be returned to the cemetery manager or City Clerk-Treasurer.

For Other Questions Please Contact the Cemetery.