Cedar Park Cemetery and Funeral Home

When we were kids we would go visit the graves of our grandparents, great-​grandparents, and many other relatives. We still own many plots purchased by my great-​grandfather do many years ago. None of us would even consider being buried there now as we all live in Indiana, and the fact that it has fallen into such disrepair. When we were kids, we were amazed by the animals roaming the grounds, and the beautiful ornate statues. All crumbling now. I wish we could move our family out. They were proud Masons and Eastern Star members. Sad. Shame on them for wasting the perpetual care funds.

Why am I always Unilocaling cemeteries? I actually think this is only the second one I’ve reviewed but, you know, still.
Anyway, I can only give four stars because I have no idea about anything relating to burials or site care. So why the four stars, you ask? The answer is simple.
Deer.
A TON of deer.
Not sure how the husband and I stumbled upon this cemetery, but when we read a tip or review that there were deer roaming the grounds, we decided to check it out. From the road, we saw two deer. Impressive.
Hold up, that was only from the ROAD.
Once we actually got inside, those two deer… well, they multiplied. We were counting, but we lost track after FORTY. Forty! Forty deer in the cemetery! Three different colors (I’m not well versed on differing deer, but still – different colors! Different sizes! Different differences!) and they let us get sooooo close. So beautiful! We took pictures quietly from the car and tried not to disturb them. They were *very* watchful and aware but not overly fearful or skittish. They mostly just studied us with an equal return of intensity.
Over forty deer… amazing. We will certainly be back. I’m kind of obsessed. Total worth checking out. I’m serious. Do it.

My family grandparents & Aunt & Uncle are interred here, so I gave seen the Cemetary evolve over the decades. No, it’s not the showplace that it once was as a Masonic owned facility, but, it is not a trash heap that some would want you to believe. It’s developed into a little bit of nature & serenity with a broken sundial here or some overgrown headstones there. That said, I have always had wonderful response from the office staff when I have asked them to make sure the headstones are clean when my parents were on the way to visit.
I no longer live in Chicago, but drop in a couple times a year & find the graves dusted with leaves or grass clippings or with a few weeds encroaching, but nothing I can’t remedy in a moment or two. It’s a pleasure to sit and read at my family’s plot, with deer and geese keeping an eye on me or venturing closer to get a snack.
I am prejudice toward Cedar Park because of the family memories and it may not be as enchanting to you. But, if you would like a quiet place among a herd of deer to relax, want to walk and contemplate who the people are buried here or want an odd place for a private picnic, look no further.

If I could give 0 stars I would. After 2 years, a headstone hasn’t been placed on my loved one’s site. The staff there seems incompetent

This is a beautiful cemetery. (My aunt and uncle are buried here.) It’s in a very impoverished area, but once inside the gates, you don’t see the boarded-​up buildings and trashy strip malls but instead find yourself in a nicely landscaped, landmark cemetery.
It is worth visiting to see the herd of sika deer, which were imported as an ornamental species. They are very tame and will let you get pretty close, so you can get some nice pictures of them.
Other cemeteries in the Chicago area are known to host interesting wildlife. North American whitetail deer are common at Resurrection cemetery, and the rarely seen gray fox – until recently – was visible at Oak Woods. (We tried to find fox there recently but only found some of their scat.) Red fox could often be seen at Mt. Greenwood, Mt. Olivet and Mt. Hope cemeteries, although mange whipped through the area two years ago and possibly wiped out this population. Coyotes are becoming more and more prevalent, so the fox (red and gray) populations might be impacted by competition from coyotes, too.
Cemeteries are fascinating places, especially the monuments from the 19^th/​early 20^th centuries. Older grave markers are often hard to read, but a lot of history can be appreciated if you know where to look.
You should be cautious when visiting this site, though. I used to live not far from here, so I am used to hearing gunshots and sirens on a typical drive. The surrounding neighborhood is high-​crime/​low income, and a lot of excitement occurs on Halsted, especially during the warmer months. If you visit, take 127^th to Halsted, then drive north to the main entrance. Don’t stop for a gyro on your way home, or you might be spending ALL of your time at Cedar Park, if you get my drift.

I just drove by this beautiful cemetery and never seen any cemetery like this. There are deers hanging out in the cemetary! The deers make the cemetary look more peaceful and alive in a sad place. Pretty Unique

One of the reasons I love visiting Chicago every fall is that I get to spend time with my good friend Esther. Like me, she’s a dork, and she likes spending ridiculous amounts of time doing ridiculous things.
Anyway, on my last visit, we got lost in Chicago and somehow ended up in Indiana. (It’s actually a lot easier to do than it sounds.) Because this has happened to Esther a few times and because once you get on the freeway it’s easy to inadvertently end up on a toll road, she expertly navigated her way on surface streets through (Hammond?) Indiana, and soon, we were in the south Chicago suburbs.
We were driving on a relatively busy street in Calumet Park next to a cemetery, and when I looked up, I thought I saw deer in the cemetery. I told Esther to slow down, and she did. Although I could still see what I thought were deer, I wasn’t sure whether they were real or just statues. We ended up spending the next few minutes trying to find an entrance to the cemetery, but that was pretty difficult. This driving-​around process gave me a good sense of the neighborhood, however, and this cemetery is right in the middle of a well populated human area. There couldn’t be deer just standing there in broad daylight, could there?
We finally found the entrance to the cemetery and drove to the southeast corner, where I had seen the deer from the street. Sure enough, there was a buck with his brood of about a dozen does. There were also four or five fawns. I got out of the car; and Esther, in her normal ridiculous way, urged me not to get too close so that I didn’t get hurt. Get hurt? I wasn’t going to corner any of them. The buck was very vigilant, but most of the does didn’t seem to care about my presence. I looked past the deer, and cars were zooming past in rush-​hour traffic on the street we had been on. Yet the deer were just sitting (except for the buck) there, um, deer-​like.
We got back in the car, and we were able to drive slowly around the paved circle the deer were sitting near. Again, the deer seemed oblivious to our presence. We were able to roll down the window and take a picture of a doe and her fawn. We drove around the rest of the cemetery, and we saw a few more bucks, although they were alone. One had a pretty gimpy leg.
The cemetery itself is in pretty bad shape. The grass has completely grown over even some pretty recent memorial plaques. Also, the cemetery’s main sign needs to be repainted; it’s very difficult to read the name.
On our way out, we stopped by the office, and one of the workers told us they had brought the deer in specifically to give the cemetery a more pastoral feel. Apparently, they’re all Sika deer, which are native to Asia and which never lose their spots. (Most deer only have spots when they’re young.) I asked whether the deer ever leave the cemetery and whether they control the population, and she said they basically stay put. She also said the sometimes cull the population. When I asked (with trepidation) how, she said the excess deer are tranquilized and end up in petting zoos. Esther didn’t seem too comforted or convinced by that explanation.
So I don’t know. I love the fact that I know where to approach deer in suburban Chicago, but I also feel bad that they’re so tame. I could very easily see them getting hurt in the neighborhood. And I don’t know about importing deer for decoration, although they are beautiful.