Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago

What Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago does

Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago is a nonprofit ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago that operates 47 Catholic cemeteries across Cook and Lake Counties in Illinois. Founded in 1837, it is the oldest Catholic cemetery operator in the region and historically the burial ground for the Chicagoland Catholic community, with combined interments exceeding 2 million across its locations, anchored by flagship assets such as the Queen of Heaven Community Mausoleum (world's largest Catholic Mausoleum at ~31,000 crypts and 470 acres) and the Resurrection Mausoleum (world's largest stained-glass window at ~23,000 sq ft). The organization provides consecrated burial options spanning in-ground plots, above-ground mausoleum crypts and niches, cremation interment (including three cremation gardens opened 2017–2020), and natural/green burial at the Meadows of St. Kateri.

Its core "technology" is physical and ceremonial rather than digital — religious art installations, first-class relics, climate-controlled mausoleums, and consecrated grounds — supplemented by a small set of online tools (burial-locator search, online payment portal, decoration catalog). Services are distributed through a direct-to-consumer, advisor-led model: free in-person consultations at 47 cemetery offices or via home visits during day/evening/weekend hours, multilingual phone sales (English, Spanish, Polish), and parish/funeral-home referral partnerships. The business model is overwhelmingly one-time interment sales (grave plot easements, crypt and niche licenses, cremation interment rights, monuments and memorialization products) with two recurring streams: interest-free pre-need financing up to 60 months and 2- or 5-year memorial vase and floral subscription plans. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; customer segments skew to Catholic individuals and families (primary), families maintaining existing interments, and interfaith families with Catholic ties. The organization has no external investors, no funding rounds, and operates as part of the Archdiocese's ecclesiastical structure, with its sole recent M&A being the 2022 acquisition of Mount Carmel Cemetery in Antioch.

Name

Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago

Legal name

Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago

Website

https://catholiccemeterieschicago.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1837

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Nonprofit ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago operating 47 Catholic cemeteries across Cook and Lake Counties, providing consecrated in-ground burial, mausoleum entombment, cremation, and natural burial to Catholic individuals and families, alongside memorialization products and pre-planning services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cemetery and Funeral Services

NAICS

Cemeteries and Crematories (812220), Cemeteries and Crematories (81222), Death Care Services (8122)

akta.pro primary industry

Places of Worship & Religious Facilities Operations (Cemeteries, Retreat Centers, Pilgrimage Sites) (BPAGAJAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Religious Landmarks & Pilgrimage Sites (Temples, Churches, Shrines) (THAJACAG)

Keywords

• Catholic cemetery services
• Burial and cremation
• Pre-need funeral planning
• Memorialization products
• Grief support programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Hillside

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grave Plot and Cemetery Space Sales: One-time purchase of right of burial (easement) for grave plots, private estates, and cemetery spaces. Includes in-ground burial options and customization for monuments.
2. Mausoleum Crypt and Niche Sales: Sales of indoor and outdoor mausoleum crypts (single or companion options) and niches for cremated remains. Includes private mausoleum construction for highest customization.
3. Cremation Interment Options: Sales of cremation gardens, columbarium niches, cremation pedestals, benches, and cremation graves with various memorialization options.
4. Pre-Planned Cemetery Arrangements: Pre-paid cemetery plans with interest-free financing up to 60 months. Minimal down payment secures selection with low monthly payments.
5. Memorialization Products: Sales of memorial portraits, memorial vases, seasonal decorations, upright monuments, bevel markers, lawn-level markers, and bronze plaques.
6. Vase and Floral Program: Recurring seasonal floral arrangement program for outdoor crypts and niches offered as 2-year or 5-year plans with two seasonal arrangements per year.
7. Travel Assurance Plan: One-time enrollment fee providing lifetime worldwide coverage for repatriation of remains when death occurs 75 miles or more from primary residence.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago operates 47 Catholic cemeteries across Cook and Lake Counties in Illinois as a nonprofit ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago, providing consecrated ground burial, mausoleum and columbarium interment, cremation interment in a LEED-certified Cremation Garden, and natural/green burial. It also sells memorialization products (memorial portraits, vases, floral programs), pre-need planning, immediate burial assistance, the Travel Assurance Plan, and 13-week GriefShare grief support groups for Catholic families.

Product overview

Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago offers a comprehensive portfolio of cemetery and burial services across 47 locations throughout Cook and Lake Counties in Illinois. The core offering includes traditional in-ground burial (grave plots and private estates), above-ground burial through indoor and outdoor mausoleum crypts, cremation services (gardens, niches, columbariums), and natural burial at the Meadows of St. Kateri. Supporting services include memorialization products (monuments, markers, portraits, vases), digital tools (online burial locator, payment processing, decoration ordering), pre-planning and immediate burial assistance, and the Travel Assurance Plan for repatriation. The company operates specialized cremation gardens at All Saints (Saint Francis), Queen of Heaven (Saint Gabriel), and Good Shepherd (Restful Waters) locations, plus an Indoor Columbarium at Mount Carmel Cemetery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• In-Ground (Ground) Burial Interment of casketed remains in a consecrated grave within one of the 47 Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago locations in Cook or Lake County; available to Catholic families across the Chicago metro area.
• Mausoleum and Columbarium Interment Above-ground entombment of casketed remains in a mausoleum crypt or placement of cremated remains in an indoor columbarium niche within a Catholic cemetery; intended for Catholic families preferring above-ground interment or niche placement.
• Cremation Services (LEED-certified Cremation Garden) Interment of cremated remains in the LEED-certified Cremation Garden and accompanying cremation-related services; targeted at Catholic families selecting cremation as the form of interment.
• Natural/Green Burial Environmentally focused interment in dedicated natural burial grounds within consecrated Catholic cemeteries, for families seeking a sustainable burial alternative consistent with Catholic teaching.
• Immediate Burial Assistance Guided support and burial arrangements for Catholic families who need to inter a loved one promptly following a death; includes coordination with cemetery, clergy, and vendors.
• Pre-Planning Services Assistance for individuals planning their own Catholic burial or cremation in advance, including selection of cemetery, type of interment, and installment financing; intended to reduce family burden and lock in pricing.
• Travel Assurance Plan Plan that handles transportation and logistics of bringing a loved one's remains to a Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago location when death occurs out of state or far from the chosen cemetery.
• Memorial Portraits Custom memorial portraits installed at the burial or interment site; available to families who have purchased interment rights at a Catholic cemetery.
• Memorial Vases Memorial vases placed at graves or columbarium niches for floral tribute; sold to families with interment rights.
• Memorial Vase & Floral Program Subscription-style floral and decoration program that places seasonal arrangements in memorial vases at graves and columbarium niches across the cemetery network; offered to families with interment rights.
• GriefShare Grief Support Program 13-week facilitated grief support group program offered to families who have lost a loved one, providing counseling, materials, and community support in a Catholic context.

Quantifiable outcome

• Pre-planning eliminates future guesswork for surviving family members
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Cook County Medical Examiner's OfficeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Partnership for indigent burial services where the Medical Examiner's Office refers unidentified or unclaimed deceased for dignified burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Catholic Cemeteries donates cemetery space for remains of indigent people who cannot be identified or claimed.
• Cook County Funeral Directors AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Association members donate their time and resources to provide dignified burial and final resting place for indigent deceased through Catholic Cemeteries' donated section at Mount Olivet Cemetery.
• Local HospitalsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with local hospitals to bury unborn fetuses at Mount Olivet Cemetery as part of indigent burial program.
• Catholic High Schools (Brother Rice, Mother McAuley, St. Laurence, Marist)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudents from local Catholic high schools volunteer as honorary pallbearers at indigent burial services, providing dignity and community support for those without family.
• GriefShareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to offer GriefShare Support Groups - a compassionate space where those struggling with loss of loved ones can connect with others who understand what they are going through. Groups meet monthly at Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
• Trinity Center (Queen of Heaven)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerGriefShare support group meetings held at Trinity Center located at 1400 S. Wolf Rd., Hillside, IL 60162 at Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
• Genealogical Resource OrganizationsminorOthersReferral partnerships with genealogical resources including Office of Vital Records, Illinois Department of Public Health, Cook County Bureau of Vital Statistics, Illinois State Archives, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives, Newberry Library, National Genealogical Society, and Chicago Historical Society.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries: Operates a portfolio of large, destination-style cemeteries and mausoleums in Southern California with above-ground crypts, cremation gardens, and memorial parks — directly comparable to CCC's large-scale multi-section cemetery strategy and mausoleum inventory model.
• Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Newark: Operates 10 Catholic cemeteries across northern New Jersey under the Archdiocese of Newark with consecrated burial grounds, mausoleums, cremation niches, and pre-need planning — a near-identical faith-based multi-cemetery operating model.
• Catholic Cemeteries & Family Services of the Archdiocese of Boston: Operates multiple Catholic cemeteries across the Archdiocese of Boston with consecrated grounds, mausoleums, cremation gardens, and pre-need financing — directly comparable regional Catholic cemetery ministry.
• Rose Hills Memorial Park: One of the largest cemeteries in the world, located in Whittier, California, with extensive mausoleum inventory, cremation options, and a multi-section campus model analogous to CCC's Queen of Heaven flagship.

Broad incumbents

• Service Corporation International (SCI): Largest publicly traded death-care conglomerate operating cemeteries, mausoleums, funeral homes, and cremation services across North America. Broader in scope (includes funeral homes) and secular in positioning, but directly comparable cemetery operations and cremation strategy.
• StoneMor Partners: Publicly traded operator of ~300 cemeteries and 90+ funeral homes across the U.S., with multi-site cemetery operations, mausoleum/crypt sales, and pre-need financing — overlapping business model and revenue streams with CCC.
• Carriage Services: Publicly traded death-care provider operating cemeteries, funeral homes, and cremation businesses with a focus on pre-need cemetery/funeral planning — comparable in cemetery operations, mausoleum inventory, and pre-need financing structure.
• Dignity Memorial (Dignity plc): Operates a network of funeral homes and cemeteries across North America with branded cremation gardens, mausoleums, and pre-need cemetery planning — overlapping product offerings including cremation and mausoleum inventory.

Regional players

• Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum: Historic 733-acre non-sectarian cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio with mausoleums, cremation options, and memorial parks — comparable in scale and historic-operating model, but operating in a different geography.

Others

• Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Catholic Schools / Cemeteries Ministry: Parent ecclesiastical body governing CCC and operating related ministries including parishes, schools, and the Paddy Drish Charitable Trust — relevant as the institutional parent and brand authority that grants CCC its consecrated-ground license.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCpCkYT3K2VsPfIWmeU7cm-A
• Facebookfacebook.com/CatholicCemeteriesChicago
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/catholic-cemeteries-chicago
• Instagraminstagram.com/catholiccemeterieschicago

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries20 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 Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago