Services
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Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum offers a wide variety of services and options from which you may choose. From traditional burial in our gardens, to our mausoleum, which features aboveground entombment and niche selections, you’ll feel comfortable knowing you’ve selected a place of distinction. Individual and family spaces are available in various settings offering alternative surroundings to satisfy your personal preferences. We encourage your desire to create an enduring memorial that is both personal and distinctive.

Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum staff provides caring and professional guidance, fully and clearly explaining all of the details involved in planning a memorial. Their years’ of experience working with virtually every family preference and individual situation enables them to present you with a wide array of options. They’ll guide you through the selection process so you’ll feel certain you’ve made the decisions that are right for you and your family.

Choices

Traditional Burial
Choose from individual and family lots available throughout our 25 acres of meticulously maintained grounds set in a park-life setting with gardens, enduring monuments and dignity.

Questions
Is There a Time Limit After a Death for a Person to be Buried?
States have different laws—some limit the maximum time before final disposition. Things that must be considered: securing official permits and authorizations, notifying friends and family, preparation of the burial site and religious requirements. Your funeral director will be well versed on these and other regulations.

What About Embalming—Is It Required?
No. Embalming is a matter of choice. Your decision will be influenced by several factors: 1. Length of time between death and burial; 2. To enhance the deceased’s appearance in an open casket for public viewing or private viewing by family members; 3. Transportation of the body by plane or train.

What are “Opening and Closing Fees?”
Fees for “Opening and Closing” cover the cost of many separate services performed by cemetery personnel. They include administering and permanent record keeping which encompasses the determination of ownership, obtaining necessary permission and completing all other necessary documents, including entering the interment details in the interment register and maintaining all legal files. The fees also include actually opening and closing the grave, crypt or niche. In the case of in-ground burial, we locate and lay out the boundaries of the grave, excavate, make the burial and fill the space. We also level, tamp and sod the gravesite and level and re-sod it again if the earth settles.

What is a burial vault?
A burial vault is the outside container into which the casket itself is placed. It is designed to protect the casket and keep the grave surface from sinking in. Burial vaults vary in type and can be made of one or more of the following materials: concrete, stainless steel, galvanized steel, copper, bronze, plastic and fiberglass. Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum requires the use of a burial vault for in ground, full-casket burials.

May I Make the Necessary Arrangements in Advance?
Yes. You can make all arrangements in advance. Planning ahead lets you consider the options you prefer and make the decisions about your funeral, your cemetery arrangements and memorial that you are comfortable with. They will be meaningful decisions that will give you peace of mind, knowing that you have relieved your loved ones of the emotional and financial burden of having to make decisions in their time of grief. It’s also a wise economic choice because you purchase at today’s prices, free from future inflation.

When I Buy a Grave, Do I Receive a Deed?
No. The purchase of a grave is really a purchase of the right to designate who may be buried in that grave and what kind of memorial you want, subject to what the cemetery’s rules permit. You are not really purchasing the land or the actual grave, crypt or niche. They remain the property and responsibility of the cemetery. You will receive a Certificate of Ownership for your burial rights.

What is Endowment Care?
Endowment care income is a portion of the purchase price contributed to a special fund that provides for regular care and maintenance of the cemetery which can include mowing, planting and maintaining trees, water supply system, maintenance, roads, drainage and more. The minimum amount that can be contributed to the endowment care fund is usually legally mandated.

Mausoleum Entombment
Once exclusively for the wealthy and famous, mausoleum entombment is now well within reach for families looking for the simplicity and dignity of aboveground burial. Mausoleums are open 365 days a year and families can visit regardless of the weather in a beautiful, clean and comfortable environment. Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum offers a variety of crypt configurations including individual and companion.

Interesting fact: The first mausoleum, built and named for Mausolo, a beloved minor monarch who would otherwise have been forgotten, is now one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Questions

Why Choose a Mausoleum?
Mausoleums provide the prestige, dignity and serenity of aboveground burial that includes a clean, dry, ventilated environment. Covered mausoleums provide a relaxing and comfortable environment for families to visit their loved ones regardless of the weather.

What Makes Mausoleum Entombment the Wise Financial Choice?
Aboveground burial compares favorably with the cost of in-ground burial by eliminating the need for lots, vaults, monuments and memorials. In one indoor, aboveground space, the concrete vault is sealed and the casket is protected from the elements.

Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum offers substantial pre-planning discounts, as well as low down payments, interest-free financing and special savings on companion crypts, making the choice of mausoleum entombment even more affordable.

When Can Friends and Family Visit Mausoleum Crypts?
All year-round, in any weather, you can pay homage to the memory of departed loved ones in a beautiful, inspirational setting.

Is Embalming Necessary When Selecting a Crypt?
The Rules and Regulations of Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum require embalming when selecting aboveground entombment.

Cremation

The options for handling your cremated remains are many. You may decide to be embalmed and have a casket, viewing hours and full-service with cremation being performed after the funeral service. You may choose to have your remains scattered or placed in an urn of your choosing for burial in a traditional plot or placement in a mausoleum niche. If you choose to have your remains scattered, memorial plaques provide a tangible and lasting remembrance for family and friends.

Questions

What is Cremation?
Cremation involved placing the deceased in a special chamber in a building called a crematorium and incinerating the body at high temperatures for several hours until it is reduced to a fine white powder. These remains are commonly called “cremains”. Because of the simplicity, dignity and affordability, cremation is the most popular option to the traditional funeral and burial.

How Common Is It?
Cremation has seen a steady rise in acceptance in the United States over the past four decades among people of all backgrounds and faiths. In 1960, cremation accounted for less than 4% of all final arrangements in America but today the rate is over 25%. By the year 2010, cremation is projected to be 40% of all arrangements.

Do I Need a Casket if I’m Being Cremated?
With cremation, neither a casket nor embalming is generally required. However, you can always choose to be embalmed and have a casket, full viewing and a full service. Cremation can be performed without a service or done before or after a funeral service. Cremains may be scattered, kept at home, buried in a cemetery, or inurned into a niche in a columbarium (a structure containing niches).

Why is Cremation Becoming More Popular?
One factor is our increased mobility. People often live away from family and would prefer to have their remains “closer to home” where they have a stronger attachment and where family and friends may visit. Perhaps a person would like to be remembered in two different places or have their remains encased in molten glass objects d’art or crafted into jewelry. Some people are even having their cremains launched into space. Literally, the sky’s the limit.

What Cremation Options does Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum Offer?
Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum offers a wide range of plans and locations for the inurnment of cremains. Constructed of the finest materials with granite fronts, niche spaces provide an enduring memorial. Our cremation plans include a niche space, urn and lettering. The Pavilion niches offer memorialization in a peaceful, outdoor setting overlooking the lake.

Should I Plan My Cremation in Advance?
Planning now lets you make choices you’re comfortable with and protects your family from unnecessary burdens. You also take advantage of substantial pre-planning discounts and protect your family from future price increases while conserving their insurance benefits. There are no hidden costs. Your loved ones pay no additional charges at the time of loss or any time thereafter.