Restlawn Memorial Park

May 2026

I am writing this review from my own personal experience as a grieving daughter. My father, passed away on April 14, 2026, and was buried at Restlawn Memorial Park on April 25, 2026. Only days later, I placed flowers on his grave as one of the first small ways I could still honor him after laying him to rest. On May 4, I learned the flowers had been removed by the cemetery caretakers. A Restlawn representative left me a voicemail saying removed flowers would be placed in the bin behind the shop. I went there that same day, within hours, to retrieve my father’s flowers. They were gone. I checked again afterward, and they have never been found. What made this even more painful was later seeing other families’ flowers sitting in that same bin instead of on their loved ones’ graves. Those flowers mean something to people. They are not just decorations. They are grief, love, and remembrance. I am also concerned about three in-ground metal cemetery vases that were removed from my family’s graves. My mother purchased those vases directly from Restlawn when my grandmother passed away in July 1990. They were cemetery-purchased and installed and used by our family for decades. I have asked for clarification on where they are and what policy authorized their removal. In my opinion, the handling of this situation lacked the compassion, clarity, and consistency grieving families should be able to expect from a cemetery. I understand cemeteries need rules and maintenance procedures, but families also deserve clear communication, respectful handling of memorial items, and care around gravesites. I also observed grave markers that appeared to be covered with gravel, dirt, and debris near the cemetery road. It was difficult to see flowers being treated as the problem while some markers appeared neglected. My advice to other families: get the flower and decoration rules in writing, ask exactly where removed items go, ask how long they are kept, take pictures, save voicemails, keep receipts, and document everything. In my opinion, families trusting a cemetery with their loved ones deserve more care, more clarity, and more compassion than what we experienced.