Cemeteries
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.
On This Page
- Contact Us
- Cemeteries
- Current Fees and Plots for Purchase
- Regulations
- Find a Loved One and Search Available Plots
- Family Burial Plots
- Cremation
- Spring Clean Up
- History of City Cemeteries
Contact Us
Office Hours: Monday through Friday from 7am- 3pm EST.
Cemeteries are closed dusk to dawn.
Burton Matteson
Director of Cemeteries
Violett Sexton
574-536-1478
[email protected]
Mailing address:
Goshen City Cemeteries
202 S. 5th Street
Goshen, IN 46528
Cadi Swartzentruber
Cemetery Assistant Director
Oakridge and West Goshen Sexton
574-536-1489
[email protected]
Cemeteries
Oakridge Cemetery
Address: 435 North 1st St, Goshen, IN
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. 1st 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).
Find available plots for purchase
West Goshen Cemetery
Address: 1208 Berkey Avenue, Goshen, IN (Entrance is on the south side of Berkey between Dewey Ave and S Winter Ave
Settler John Cripe who died in 1841 is believed to be the first burial at West Goshen Cemetery. The site was purchased and used by the German Baptist Church as a cemetery beginning in 1859. After being a church cemetery for over one hundred years it was ceded to the City of Goshen by West Goshen Church of the Brethren in 1975. West Goshen Cemetery is located at 1208 Berkey Avenue, behind West Goshen Church.
Find available plots for purchase
Violett Cemetery
Address: 2818 Violett Rd, Goshen, IN
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.
Find available plots for purchase
Dierdorff Cemetery
Address: 2000 S. Main St, Goshen, IN
Dierdorff Cemetery is a small pioneer-area cemetery, about ¾ acre 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.
Current Fees and Plots for Purchase
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 to make a payment. Checks should be made payable to City of Goshen.
Cemetery fees are set by the City Council. Current fees were adopted at the December 29th, 2025, City Council meeting in Ordinance 5244.
2026 Current Fees
| Burial Space | Resident | Non-Resident |
| Non-boulevard | $825 | $1225 |
| Cremation only space (VT) | $300 | $440 |
| Columbarium niche (VT) | $815 | $1225 |
| Baby section | $240 | $395 |
| Boulevard space (VT) | $1025 | $1530 |
| Interment | Fee | |
| Standard (excluding baby section) | ||
| Weekdays before 3 | $765 | |
| Weekdays after 3 & Saturdays before noon | $1080 | |
| Saturdays after noon, City holidays | $1385 | |
| Baby Section | ||
| Weekdays before 3 | $300 | |
| Weekdays after 3 & Saturdays before noon | $425 | |
| Saturdays after noon, City holidays | $555 | |
| Cremation (excluding baby section) | ||
| Weekdays before 3 | $300 | |
| Weekdays after 3 & Saturdays before noon | $615 | |
| Saturdays after noon, City holidays | $920 | |
| Additional/same container | 1/2 Price | |
| Cremation – Forest of Remembrance (OR) | Resident | Non-Resident |
| Weekdays before 3 | $900 | $1050 |
| Weekdays after 3 & Saturdays before noon | $1225 | $1260 |
| Saturdays after noon, City holidays | $1530 | $1690 |
| Tree replacement fee (12–60 months – all) | $515 | $515 |
| Scattering | Resident | Non-Resident |
| Weekdays before 3 | $310 | $370 |
| Weekdays after 3 & Saturdays before noon | $425 | $510 |
| Saturdays after noon, City holidays | $560 | $660 |
| Entombment or Inurnment | Fee | |
| Weekdays before 3 | $170 | |
| Weekdays after 3 & Saturdays before noon | $300 | |
| Saturdays after noon, City holidays | $450 | |
| Disinterment | Fee | |
| Casket | $1530 | |
| Cremation | $615 | |
| Disentombment or Disinurnment | $300 |
Plots for Purchase
Plots are available for purchase at Oakridge, West Goshen, and Violett Cemeteries. You may contact the cemetery manager for an appointment available between the hours of 7am-3pm ET Monday through Friday.
Oakridge and West Goshen – Cadi Swartzentruber, 574-536-1489 | [email protected]
Violett – Burton Matteson – 574-536-1478 | [email protected]
You may also use the Cemetery Explorer map to locate and submit a purchase request without going into the offices.
Regulations
1. While cemetery staff exercises appropriate care, the cemetery is not liable for floral arrangements, plantings, pots, or other decorations left at graves.
2. The sexton may remove any floral arrangements, flowers, bushes, trees, or decorations as soon as they become unsightly, overgrown, dangerous, detrimental, diseased, or when they interfere with cemetery operations. Any decoration may be moved or removed to facilitate a burial.
3. To ensure the safety of visitors and cemetery staff running power equipment, the use of glass items and stone mulch to decorate graves is prohibited.
4. Planting of trees and bushes must be cleared with the sexton. Perennial and annual plantings should be close to the monument to avoid damage from mowers.
5. New installments of edging or bedding around a monument must be cleared with the sexton to be certain they do not interfere with standard grounds maintenance. Existing installations that are not maintained or that interfere with maintenance may be removed at the discretion of the sect.
6. Spring cleanup is conducted the first full week of April. Any decorations not removed by family or friends prior to that will be removed at the discretion of the sexton or cemetery staff. Family and friends may decorate graves after spring cleanup.
7. Urns, planters, or hanging hooks left unused may be removed at the discretion of the sexton. These items will be stored for one year before disposal.
8. Pet owners using the cemetery must keep their animals leashed and clean up after them.
9. Alcoholic beverages are not permitted.
10. Cemeteries are closed from dusk to dawn.
11. Visitors must keep their vehicles on the road.
12. The sexton is empowered to:
a. Enforce or modify these regulations as needed.
b. Maintain and protect cemetery property.
c. Dismiss from the cemetery individuals and parties who may pose a threat to the property or to the efficient conduct of cemetery business.
d. Appoint a designee to act on their behalf.
13. Interments and disinterments are subject to all applicable laws.
14. Interments may not be scheduled on weekdays after 4 p.m., Saturdays after 3 p.m., Sundays, or on the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas. Additional city holidays will be charged at the Saturday p.m. rate.
15. Funerals arriving after 3 p.m. on weekdays or after 12 p.m. on Saturdays must pay higher opening/closing fees.
16. Graves may only be opened under the supervision of the sexton.
17. The sexton reserves the right to correct any errors made by the cemetery in making interments or in the sale and transfer of burial rights, including substituting similar space of equal value.
18. Burial spaces may be purchased through the sexton at the cemetery office. Fees are set by the City of Goshen. Current fee schedule may be obtained by the cemetery office. Checks should be payable to the City of Goshen.
19. Standard spaces are 4′ x 10′ and are intended to inter one adult casket burial or up to four cremations. Cremations may not be buried over a casket burial or in the monument row.
20. The sale of a burial space is an easement for the specific purpose of burial, not a transfer of fee simple interest in the real estate.
21. Concrete vaults are required for all body burials outside babyland. Cremation burials must be in a moisture-resistant concrete, plastic or metal vault or urn-vault.
22. All foundation work and monuments must meet guidelines approved by the Director of Cemeteries. For a copy of guidelines, contact the cemetery office.
- A single burial space is available courtesy of the City of Goshen at no cost to U.S. military veterans. A copy of their DD214 may be requested to confirm eligibility. Opening/closing costs still apply.
2. Spaces are assigned next in row, with no choice of location, at the time of death. Spouses must be buried elsewhere.
3. The only permitted marker is a standard upright military tablet in gray granite. This may be arranged with the V.A. through your funeral home.
4. No permanent decorations may be placed in this section. Cut flowers may be placed next to the marker and will be removed weekly by staff.
5. No plantings may be made in this section. An adjacent area may be designated for memorial plantings — contact the sexton for species and placement.
1. Ashes must be buried in a Living Urn, which may be purchased through a funeral home or at https://thelivingurn.com/.
2. To optimize tree survival, planting/burials shall be scheduled in these yearly windows March 1-May 15 and September 15-November 15.
3. Families may select the type of tree and one alternate choice from the approved list. The Cemetery will be responsible for acquiring the tree.
4. Sites are next in row according to the size of the three selected.
5. A memorial tree may be planted without ash or Living Urn for any occasion. Prices are the same.
6. All general cremation requirements apply except for the vault requirement.
7. If a tree dies in the first year, the Cemetery will replace it at their expense. If it dies in years 2–5, it may be replaced at the family’s request and expense. If a tree dies and is not replaced, the site may not be resold for a minimum of 30 years.
8. The following are not permitted in this natural area: monuments, ground‑mounted plaques, decorations, other plantings.
Exception: Tree Hugger tree plaques are permitted (attach to the tree without hindering growth).
General:
1. As a planned garden, no plantings or decorations may be added in this section.
2. All services should be arranged with a funeral director and paid for in advance.
3. The City requires an Indiana Transit Permit (or copy) with all cremations.
4. Inurnments, burials & scatterings may not be scheduled weekdays after 4 p.m., Saturdays after 3 p.m., Sunday, or on these holidays:
New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas.
Additional city holidays may be available at the discretion of the sexton.
Burial Area:
5. One set of cremains per space contained in one moisture‑resistant (plastic, concrete, or metal) vault or urn‑vault no larger than 16″ x 16″.
6. The sexton should be notified at least two business days in advance with the vault dimensions.
7. Spaces are generally sold next in row. A second space may be purchased at that time for a living spouse.
8. A concrete foundation for a marker is included in the price of the space.
9. The only type of marker permitted is a single 5½” x 8½” flush‑mounted bronze plaque (not included in space price).
10. Cut flowers may be laid next to the marker and will be removed weekly by staff.
Scattering Area:
11. This area is for the use of those who pay to use it.
12. The single fee includes a plaque with the deceased’s name and birth/death years. It also includes all administrative and maintenance fees.
13. Scattering must be scheduled, paid in advance, and may only take place when a cemetery representative is present.
Columbaria:
14. The inscription on the cover is not included in the niche price.
15. Niches can accommodate one or two sets of cremains. Urns must fit in an 11.25″ cubic space. An inurnment fee must be paid for each cremated remains.
16. Urns must not be biodegradable — wood is not acceptable.
Contacts:
Burton Matteson, Director of Cemeteries — (574) 536‑1478
Cadi Swartzentruber, Assistant Director — (574) 536‑1489
Copies of these guidelines are available from the cemetery office.
Find a Loved One and Search Available Plots
Goshen Cemeteries maintains an interactive map-based tool, the Goshen Cemetery Explorer, to easily find a loved one and locate them within the cemeteries. The Cemetery Explorer represents best available records for burial information. West Goshen and Oakridge Cemeteries are under review for quality control while Violett has been reviewed. Please note that burial records are not available for Dierdorff Cemetery given the deteriorated condition of gravesite headstones.
Families can submit biographical information for burials or suggest corrections to existing burial records through the site.
The Cemetery Explorer can also be used to locate available plots for purchase. Once you have identified a site, you may submit a request for purchase to the Cemetery Office through the site.
Family Burial Plots
“Family Burial Plot” indicates a burial space or spaces whose owner passed away without legally transferring them. In some cases an affidavit is required to use or transfer such space.”
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 used two. There are three living adult children. If any of those children die 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.
Cremation
City Cemeteries have a variety of options for the disposition of cremated remains. In all cases, the following rules apply:
- 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 the cemetery manager prior to the 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.
Disposition Options
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 in a single space. If a casket burial exists in that 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 the 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 available at the Forest of Remembrance at Oakridge Cemetery and 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.
Spring Clean-Up
Spring Clean-Up occurs Monday to Friday the first whole week of April (April 5th– 11th in 2026). 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.
History of City Cemeteries
Various sites have written historical accounts of Goshen cemeteries. None of the content in these sites is generated or managed by the City of Goshen.