Eden Memorial Park — Attraction in Los Angeles

At the north edge of the San Fernando Valley, near the interchange of the 405 and 118 freeway's nightly cacophony, there is unexpected stillness.

We're driving on a winding road, protected by mature trees, following a white Cadillac hearse. A gentle breeze moves fluffy clouds across a deep blue sky. The procession parks on the edge of the road, at the base of a mild hillside.

EDEN MEMORIAL PARK is located on the rolling hills of the Santa Susana Mountains. Surrounded by manicured vegetation the burial sites are marked with inground marble plaques. The lawn cemetery's grounds are immaculately maintained. ¹

We've come to celebrate the life of a friend. He was a good man with a long, complex history.

The up-hill walk to the grave's location is difficult for some of the older folks. We all wear Covid-19 masks.

His Jewish memorial service is conducted under a tent. Chairs are provided. There is a PA system, but it isn't needed. The coffin is wood, elegantly simple. After all, he lived his life as an architect.

At the completion of the service, the coffin is lowered into a burial vault. (The concrete structure is used to prevent the ground above the grave from sinking.) It took four burly men and a tripod mounted winch to lower its concrete cover. Traditionally, each mourner placed three shovels of soil into the grave. (The groundskeepers completed the task.)

There are no drinking fountains at graveside. Parking is free and is wheelchair accessible. If you get lost, as we did, ask a groundskeeper. They'll direct you to the right road. Bathrooms and a drinking fountain are located in the Eden Memorial Park's mortuary.

¹ The 67-acre, Jewish, lawn cemetery opened in 1954. Comedians Groucho Marx and Lenny Bruce are among many from the entertainment industry...

There so much to say. But it was the worst experience. Father passed randomly, had a date for burial. I called a couple days ahead to confirm all that was needed. I believe his name was Carlos. Left 2 msgs & he never got back to me. And even with leaving this msg they stated they don’t show they got a signature for the death certificate yet. The day of the burial I called & spoke to a lady (which was nice) but she stated she still didn’t have a signature from my fathers doctor for his death certificate which is required prior to burial. I asked what can be done she at first wasn’t sure & then I said well this is important my dads burial is like in 3hrs. I need to speak to a supervisor & mind you this gentleman was off. Then she said let me see what we can do. I waited & waited to hear back. Called back twice within that time frame & they finally got a signature. I mean this does make sense to wait till the last minute. The stress wondering if the funeral will even continue was dramatizing & frustrating at least.

Then to top it off months later we ordered a cement placard with his name etc for his resting place. They said it will take 2-3 months to come in. Apparently it came in. This was 2 months later we decided to call & follow up. They stated they called. 20 thousand dollar later you think they could have left a voicemail or emailed us for that price. For the people who work there I would be disgusted to walk in there to work every day knowing your company is so disorganized & not caring. This is supposed to be a memorial place for our loved ones but it’s treated so...

Do not trust Andrew Owens or anyone else that works here. Andrew is nothing but a liar and will say whatever he needs to to make the sale. He promised no one would be next to my Dad’s plot and now they all of a sudden are building new graves and have practically desecrated his grave - look at the pictures. Oh and he charged us more to have no one next to him. Andrew also ignored emails my mom sent to try to complete my dads headstone and it took the better part of 6 months and several phone calls to different people to make it happen. Andrew just chooses buried his head in the sand and ignores us like we don’t exist. We can’t even have an unveiling for my dad almost a year and a half later because of this situation. Horrible people and horrible place to be buried. Don’t bury your...