Cedar Memorial

What Cedar Memorial does

Cedar Memorial is a privately held, family-owned death care services provider founded in 1929 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and currently led by third-generation owner C. John Linge as part of The Cedar Group. The company operates a fully vertically integrated campus on First Avenue NE in Cedar Rapids that combines a park cemetery, the Cedar Memorial Funeral Home, the Cedar Memorial Westside Chapel (the former Turner West funeral home, acquired 1978), the Chapel of Memories Mausoleum, the Cedar Cremation Center, a flower shop, and a Family Center and Library. Service lines span traditional burial, cremation, natural burial (Green Burial Council certified), pet cremation, mausoleum entombment, floral arrangements, preplanning, and grief support/AfterCare programs; a separate Iowa Cremation division, formed in 2000, extends cremation services statewide.

The technology stack is operational rather than product-platform in nature and includes the proprietary Cedar Tracking Process for cremation identification, the Legacy Online Tribute online memorial platform, the Cemetery Public Search feature (launched May 2025 and powered by Batesville Memorial Industry Software with QR code and Google Maps integration), the Omega III Trust pre-need funding product (supervised by the Iowa Insurance Division), and supporting integrations with US Bank for online payments, JotForm for intake forms, and Floranext for flower shop ecommerce. Patent and trademark assets are limited to creative works and internal process documentation rather than technology IP.

The business model is a mix of at-need one-time service sales (funeral, cremation, burial, merchandise), prepaid cemetery and funeral plans funded through the Omega III Trust that lock in current prices, perpetual care endowments (the largest in Iowa), and ancillary retail (flowers, catering, facility rentals). Distribution is sales-led and primarily in-person through Family Service Counselors and licensed funeral directors at the Cedar Rapids and Marion locations, with digital channels (website, obituary listings, online payment portal, Legacy Online Tribute) serving as top- and mid-funnel support rather than primary delivery mechanisms. The customer base is geographically concentrated in Cedar Rapids, Marion, and surrounding Linn County, with the Iowa Cremation division providing statewide reach for cremation cases.

Name

Cedar Memorial

Legal name

Cedar Memorial

Website

https://cedarmemorial.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1929

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Cedar Memorial is a family-owned, vertically integrated cemetery, funeral home, and cremation provider in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, founded in 1929 and now in its third Linge-family generation. It serves families in Linn County and, via its Iowa Cremation division, across Iowa, offering burial, cremation, preplanning, grief support, and floral services from a single integrated campus.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cedar Rapids

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Cemetery Services: Cedar plot sales, burial spaces, mausoleum crypts and niches, perpetual care, bronze memorials, and cemetery maintenance services
2. Funeral Home Services: Traditional burial services, cremation services, memorial services, funeral director services, ceremonies, visitations, transportation, casket and urn sales
3. Signature Service Plans: Predefined package plans for burial and cremation services offered at savings versus individual services. Includes Complete Burial, Premium Burial, Classic Burial, Graveside, Natural, Veteran, and various cremation plans
4. Cremation Services (Iowa Cremation division): Affordable cremation services delivered through the Cedar Cremation Center, with cremation witnessing options
5. Flower Shop: Retail flower arrangements for sympathy, funerals, cemeteries, everyday occasions, and special events
6. Preplanning/Pre-funding: Pre-funded funeral arrangements through the Omega III Trust that lock in costs at current prices with payment options
7. Gathering/Reception Services: Catering services and facility rentals for luncheons, receptions, and family gatherings
8. Pet Cremation: Pet cremation services for families wanting to memorialize their pets

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cedar Memorial provides comprehensive death care services through a vertically integrated operation that includes a park plan cemetery, two funeral home facilities, the on-site Cedar Cremation Center, the Chapel of Memories Mausoleum, and The Flower Shop at Cedar Memorial Park. Core offerings are packaged as Signature Service Burial Plans, Signature Service Cremation Plans, and prepaid Traditional and Cremation Signature Cemetery Plans, with preplanning and pre-funding available through the Iowa Insurance Division-supervised Omega III Trust.

Product overview

Cedar Memorial is a comprehensive death care services provider offering an integrated portfolio of cemetery, funeral, and cremation services through multiple facilities and brands. The core offerings include Signature Service Burial Plans (Complete, Premium, Classic, Graveside, Natural, and Veteran options) and Signature Service Cremation Plans (Complete, Memorial, Veterans, Graveside, and Non-ceremonial options), both offered as predefined packages with known costs. Supporting these are Traditional Signature Cemetery Plans and Cremation Signature Cemetery Plans for prepaid burial and inurnment. The company operates Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery (with Chapel of Memories Mausoleum, multiple garden spaces, and Veterans Memorial Lawn), Cedar Memorial Funeral Home, Cedar Memorial Westside Chapel, and the Cedar Cremation Center/Iowa Cremation division. Additional services include The Flower Shop at Cedar Memorial (ecommerce floral service), Legacy Online Tribute digital memorial platform, Family Center & Library for receptions, comprehensive grief support and AfterCare services, Cemetery Public Search, SwanCam, Pet Cremation, and Veterans Memorialization Project. Preplanning services include Certified Preplanning Counselors and Omega III Trust funding. The company was founded in 1929 and is operated by the third-generation Linge family as part of The Cedar Group.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Cedar Group: Parent organization encompassing Cedar Memorial, Iowa Cremation, and Companions for Life.
• Iowa Cremation

Products and services

• Signature Service Burial Plans Predefined funeral service packages for traditional burial including Complete, Premium, Classic, Graveside, Natural, and Veteran Burial Service options, bundling commonly selected services with known total costs and savings versus à la carte selection.
• Signature Service Cremation Plans Predefined cremation service packages including Complete Cremation, Memorial Cremation, Veteran Complete Cremation, Graveside Cremation, Non-ceremonial Cremation, and Veteran Memorial Cremation options, with professional services, ceremonies, transportation, and tribute services included.
• Traditional Signature Cemetery Plans Prepaid cemetery burial packages including Serenity Premium Traditional Burial, Serenity Traditional Burial, and Tranquility Lawn Crypt Entombment, combining burial spaces, vaults, and enduring bronze memorials.
• Cremation Signature Cemetery Plans Prepaid cremation burial packages including Serenity Premium Cremation Burial, Serenity Cremation Burial, and Reflection Lawn Memorial Urn Crypt, combining inurnment spaces, urn vaults, and bronze memorials.
• Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery Main park plan cemetery offering traditional burial, cremation burial, mausoleum entombment, and memorialization, including the Chapel of Memories Mausoleum, Garden of Serenity, Garden of Reflection, Garden of Tranquility, Garden of Meditation, and Veterans Memorial Lawn.
• Cedar Memorial Funeral Home Full-service funeral home on the cemetery grounds offering traditional funeral services, visitations, memorial services, funeral coaches, and use of the Chapel of Memories and family reception spaces.
• Cedar Cremation Center / Iowa Cremation State-of-the-art on-site cremation facility overseen by Iowa Licensed Funeral Directors, offering cremation services with private gathering spaces and cremation witnessing options; the Iowa Cremation division serves families across the state of Iowa.
• The Flower Shop at Cedar Memorial Park Full-service florist offering sympathy flowers, funeral arrangements, cemetery placements, remembrance gifts, and everyday occasion flowers, with online ordering via the Floranext-powered website.
• Chapel of Memories Mausoleum Indoor mausoleum featuring Italian marble crypts, glass front niches, water features, and stained glass windows, with corridors including Corridor of Hope (including the 2nd Addition), Corridor of Faith, Corridor of Light, and columbarium niches for cremated remains.
• Preplanning Services Funeral preplanning service including consultation with Certified Preplanning Counselors, a Preplanning Organizer tool, the Omega III Trust funding option (supervised by the Iowa Insurance Division), and portable pre-funded funeral plans that lock in costs at today's prices.
• Pet Cremation Services Cremation services for pets, offered as part of Cedar Memorial's comprehensive death care portfolio for families who want to memorialize deceased pets.
• Natural Burial Service Environmentally friendly burial option certified by the Green Burial Council, featuring biodegradable caskets and green cemetery practices, offered as part of the Signature Service Burial Plans line.

Quantifiable outcome

• ICCFA 2018 Keeping It Personal Awards - First Place in Most Personalized Service/Memorial category and overall Grand Prize for Butterfly Blanket Program
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Cedar Valley Detachment 99 of the Marine Corps LeaguecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Cedar Memorial and Linn County Veterans Services to form the Veterans Memorialization Project of Linn County. The project ensures that honorably discharged veterans who have gone without memorialization for at least 10 years receive headstones or markers at their graves. Works across all cemeteries in Linn County, Iowa.
• Linn County Veterans ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Cedar Memorial and Cedar Valley Detachment 99 of the Marine Corps League to form the Veterans Memorialization Project of Linn County, ensuring veterans receive proper memorialization.
• John B. Turner and SonscoreOthersAcquired in 1978, included two funeral homes (Turner East and Turner West). Turner West continues to operate as Cedar Memorial Westside Chapel.
• Iowa CremationcoreOthersDivision of Cedar Memorial formed in 2000 with the mission of delivering simple, dignified, and affordable cremation services to families across Iowa.
• The Flower Shop at Cedar MemorialcoreOthersOn-site flower shop opened in 1954 to serve lot owners and their families with floral arrangements for sympathy, funerals, cemeteries, and everyday occasions. Located at 4361 1st Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids.
• Companions for LifecoreOthersPart of The Cedar Group of three progressive death care providers alongside Cedar Memorial and Iowa Cremation.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Carriage Services: Publicly traded operator of funeral homes and cemeteries with a high-touch, personalized service model. Comparable to Cedar Memorial's vertically integrated, locally branded death care platform and ICCFA-recognized service quality.
• NorthStar Memorial Group: Private cemetery and funeral home operator with a portfolio of memorial parks. Comparable to Cedar Memorial as a cemetery-led death care provider with local branding and on-site service delivery.
• Park Lawn Corporation: Canadian death care operator with cemetery, funeral, and cremation services across North America. Directly comparable business model to Cedar Memorial's integrated death care platform.
• Everstory Partners: Death care company operating cemeteries, funeral homes, and cremation centers across multiple U.S. states. Directly comparable in integrated service offering and pre-need focus.
• StoneMor Partners: Cemetery and funeral home operator with a portfolio of parks and funeral homes across the U.S. Directly comparable to Cedar Memorial as a multi-site death care provider combining cemetery, funeral, and pre-need financing.
• Foundation Partners Group: Private-equity-backed funeral home and cemetery operator. Comparable as a multi-site death care consolidator offering similar cemetery, funeral, cremation, and preplanning services to local markets.
• Murdoch Funeral Homes & Cremation Service: Locally owned funeral home and cremation provider based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Direct local competitor to Cedar Memorial within the same primary service area, with overlapping funeral and cremation offerings.

Regional players

• Dignity plc: U.K.-listed funeral services operator. Comparable as a death care provider with a focus on personalized service and pre-need planning, though operating in a different geography than Cedar Memorial.

Broad incumbents

• Service Corporation International: Largest publicly traded funeral, cemetery, and cremation operator in North America (Dignity Memorial brand). Comparable as a multi-service death care platform with cemetery, funeral, and cremation offerings; however, it operates at national scale rather than a single local market like Cedar Memorial.

Emerging players

• Trident Holding Company: Multi-brand death care holding company with cemetery and funeral operations. Comparable in integrated offering and growth-oriented consolidation strategy, but smaller in scale than the public peers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cedar-memorial-116375938386522
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cedar-memorial

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cedar Memorial