Cherokee Memorial History
Founded in May of 1940 by local businessman R.L. Martin, Cherokee Memorial Park started out as a private cemetery two miles south of the town of Lodi. It's main entrance, at the time, was on Cherokee Lane, now known as the Highway 99 Business By-Pass. Mr. Martin was a concrete contractor who believed that a Memorial Park type of cemetery, one that used memorial markers level with the grass, would be the best type of cemetery for the region. In 1942 he returned all of his stock to the company and filed to become a not-for-profit corporation. In 1948 Mr. Martin was in an automobile accident. Mr. Laurence P. West became the manager and soon after became the president of the "Park" until 1979 when ill health overcame him. In over 68 years, there have been only 3 local managers.
In 1998 the Board of Directors realized that in order to serve the public more effectively, it needed to open a Funeral Home. Our operating permit was delivered on December 29, 1998 and our first family was served later the same day.
Since that first service, we have converted a simple warehouse building into a 16,000 sq. ft., state of the art, beautiful funeral facility. Plans are currently being made to eventually bring the funeral home to the cemetery grounds. We have served over 300 families with their funeral needs since that first family in 1998.
On the cemetery grounds we have added a new wing to Sierra View Mausoleum, over 5000 new burial spaces, as well as the spectacular original bronze and stone "Wings of Freedom" area including over 1000 cremation niches. We have imported 3 hand-carved Italian marble "Angels"; used in the new Garden of Angels, also providing cremation niches.
We are currently busy replacing old gutters and roads, overgrown plants and trees, and making Cherokee Memorial Park and Funeral Home the most beautiful cemetery and funeral home facilities in Northern California.
Cherokee Memorial Funeral Home