Plots & Burial

Yes! Oakwood Cemetery has more than 400 single graves spaces available. For a personal tour of available space at the cemetery, please call one of our Family Care Representatives at (716) 284-5131, or email info@oakwoodniagara.org.

Without pre-arrangements for funeral and cemetery services, there are at least 49 decisions your loved ones will have to make within hours on the worst day of their lives. But if you plan ahead, your family has only two decisions – day and time of the service. With pre-arrangements, you can choose exactly what you want, pay in today’s prices, finance your purchase over multiple years at 0% interest, and receive an additional, significant discount. So don’t wait. Contact one of our Family Care Representatives to make your pre-arrangements today. Call (716) 284-5131, or email info@oakwoodniagara.org

We understand that this is a very difficult time for you. The first thing to do is to call a licensed funeral director. He or she is the only person who can legally handle the funeral arrangements for the deceased in New York State. Even if you are choosing cremation for your loved one, you must – by law – contact a funeral director. He or she can then make arrangements to have the cremation process performed at the Oakwood Cemetery Chapel Crematory.

If you have not already chosen a funeral director, this link can help you find one from the local Erie Niagara Funeral Directors Association.

At Oakwood Cemetery, we encourage families to call or email the cemetery to pre-arrange for your needs. Pre-arrangement allows you to discuss your plans with your loved ones, and protect your family from having to go “cemetery shopping” on what may be the worst day of your entire life. Oakwood Cemetery’s trained professionals are ready to assist you with pre-arrangements, as well as during your time of need. Please call us at (716) 284-5131 or email info@oakwoodniagara.org, to speak with a Family Care Representative.

For traditional, full-body, in-ground burial:

Space (the land)

Outer Burial Container (burial vault, available through a Funeral Director)

Cemetery Interment Service Fee

A Memorial Grave Marker (typical but not required)

Simply call our office at (716) 284-5131 or email us at info@oakwoodniagara.org to make an appointment with one of our Family Care Representatives. 

All full-body, in-ground spaces at Oakwood Cemetery allow for both a casketed body and three cremated bodies.

To learn more about your options, please call one of our Family Care Representatives at(716) 284-5131, or email info@oakwoodniagara.org

The Cemetery Interment/Entombment Fee is for our basic services and overhead relating to the final disposition of the deceased, as well as the general care and operations of the cemetery.

The fee includes the use of the cemetery’s professional staff, facilities and equipment, to respond to and complete the request for interment / entombment / or inurnment service, as well as maintaining the cemetery. It includes verifying ownership and right of burial privileges and confirming the permanent interment location. It also includes coordination between cemetery and administration and grounds with the funeral director and/or family members requesting and authorizing the burial service, securing and issuing necessary permits and authorizations for the service, preparation of the space for burial, and restoration of that space following the service.

Click Here for a copy of our current Services and Fee Schedule (PDF, 133kb)

It is truly a matter of preference. When you purchase in-ground (traditional) space, the cemetery requires an outer burial container (known as a vault), which must be purchased from a Funeral Director. However, if for religious reasons or green burial reasons you would prefer not to have a vault, the cemetery will waive this requirement – a modest additional fee for this interment is required as the cemetery will need to go back more frequently and add earth to the interment site.

Purchasing space ahead of time (pre-arrangement) allows you to “lock in” the price for three of the most significant cemetery decisions (Space, Outer Container and Memorial Grave Marker).

Some people think it’s OK to put the cremated body on a shelf in their closet, or on the mantle above the fireplace. But a deceased human being is a deceased human being, whether in a casket or an urn. In the United States, we bury our dead in a permanent resting place so our loved one’s cremated body is protected, in a sacred place, where the body will always be treated with dignity and respect.

At Oakwood Cemetery, cremated bodies may be buried in-ground, or in a columbarium. There are also many choices for memorialization – a plaque or inscription that is either near the remains, or is placed in another section of Oakwood Cemetery. To learn more about cremation, please click here, call our office at (716) 284-5131, or email us at info@oakwoodniagara.org.

If no burials have occurred in your space, you may sell it. The State of New York requires that you offer it first to the cemetery. Write a letter (see below for the address) with your signature notarized, requesting that we make you an offer for your space, mailing it return- receipt requested. In our offer letter, we will tell you your options, based on New York Sate laws and Oakwood Cemetery policy. You do not have to accept our offer. If you do not accept our offer, you will be free to sell it on your own to whomever you wish.

If you have further questions, please email us at info@oakwoodniagara.org or call (716) 284-5131.

Send your request to:

Corporate Secretary

Oakwood Cemetery

747 Portage Road

Niagara Falls NY 14301

The original lot owner may give permission to anyone to be buried in his/her lot. The lot owner, spouse, and direct descendants have a “natural right” of burial, as long as there is still actual space available, according to the number of burial rights (spaces) purchased and appropriate authorization. Direct descendants are children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc. Spouses of direct descendants may be buried, if there is room and with appropriate authorization. Other family members may have right of burial if no direct descendants are surviving. Contact us if you have any questions by email info@oakwoodniagara.org or call 716-284-5131.

Once the lot owner is deceased, the right of burial passes to the children, then grandchildren, and so on. If a direct descendant is willing to wait and hope that other direct descendants will not use up all remaining space on the lot, then no reservations are required. However, if a direct heir wishes to reserve a burial space on the lot prior to the time of need, specific authorizations are required. An Affidavit of Title must be completed by a direct descendant that lists every living direct descendant of the lot owner who has a right to be buried on the lot (or in the mausoleum).

A Reservation of Burial Form must also be completed and signed by every living direct descendant listed on the Affidavit of Title, giving up his/her right to the space that is being “reserved”. The Affidavit of Title and all Reservation of Burial Forms are to be collected by the inquirer and submitted to the appropriate cemetery office with the New York State approved fee of $98.00 for review and processing. If you have any questions, please email us at info@oakwoodniagara.org or call 716-284-5131.