Oakland Cemetery

What Oakland Cemetery does

Oakland Cemetery Association is a nonprofit cemetery association incorporated on March 30, 1864, and operated continuously for over 155 years on a 34-acre campus at 845 Rose Street in Indiana, Pennsylvania. It serves families and individuals in Indiana County and surrounding areas, providing traditional in-ground burial, above-ground mausoleum entombment, cremation inurnment, and memorialization services. Its product portfolio spans two mausoleums (the historic Elkin Mausoleum built 1915-1916 and the modern Oakland Mausoleum), the Flag Pole Columbarium (80 niches plus 400+ in-ground cremation lots), Oakland Gardens (~500 cremation plots and columbaria), Glass Front Niches, the Scatter Garden with memorial brick pavers, and traditional flush-bronze and upright-granite burial sections. Specialized sections serve veterans and first responders (with VA-assisted markers) and the Jewish community (400 plots under a 1949 agreement with Congregation of Beth Israel Synagogue).

The business operates on a one-time perpetual interment rights license model: customers purchase burial plots, cremation niches, columbarium spaces, mausoleum crypts, or memorial bricks as permanent rights, and the Association guarantees perpetual care funded by reserves in excess of $4,000,000 held with local trust companies (up from under $1,000,000 in 1985). Revenue streams are interment rights and plot sales, memorial product sales (engraved brick pavers), and marker and monument services (procurement and installation of inscriptions, markers, and monuments). Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The cemetery is governed by a Board of Directors (President Bernard Lockard Jr., Vice President John Pettina, Secretary/Treasurer John Campbell, plus seven additional members) and operates via direct-to-customer engagement — in-person office visits (Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm), 24/7 phone, and email — with an ArcGIS-powered online Maps & Graves Lookup supporting grave location searches.

The Association's underlying technology is deliberately light: a standard WordPress website, the ArcGIS web app viewer for grave lookups, and physical infrastructure including climate-controlled mausoleum environments and granite/bronze memorial assets. There are no proprietary AI, ML, or software platforms; technology serves a supportive rather than differentiating role. The go-to-market relies on community reputation accumulated over 155+ years, local word-of-mouth, and a "Notable People" content strategy that highlights prominent Indiana County citizens interred at Oakland. Geographic scope is single-market (Pennsylvania, USA), with no multi-site expansion or public listings.

Name

Oakland Cemetery

Legal name

Oakland Cemetery Association

Website

https://oaklandcemetery.us

Company type

Private

Founded year

1864

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Oakland Cemetery Association is a 155+ year-old nonprofit cemetery in Indiana, Pennsylvania, operating a 34-acre campus with traditional burial, mausoleum, cremation, and memorial services for Indiana County families under a perpetual-care model backed by over $4M in reserve funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cemetery and Funeral Services

NAICS

Cemeteries and Crematories (81222)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Cemetery interment services
• Burial plot sales
• Mausoleum entombment
• Cremation columbarium niches
• Perpetual care memorial

Headquarters

HQ city

Indiana

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Interment Rights and Plot Sales: Sale of burial plots, cremation niches, columbarium spaces, mausoleum crypts, and traditional burial lots. Revenue is generated through one-time purchase of interment rights for casket burials, cremated remains (in-ground or above-ground), and mausoleum entombments.
2. Memorial Products: Sale of memorial brick pavers with engravings for the Scatter Garden. These personalized bricks feature the name, birth year, and death year of loved ones and are placed in the garden for permanent display.
3. Marker and Monument Services: Association procures and installs all inscriptions, markers, and monuments. Revenue derived from marker sales, bronze faceplates for cremorials, and granite markers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Oakland Cemetery sells interment rights and memorialization products on its 34-acre grounds in Indiana, Pennsylvania, including traditional in-ground burial plots with flush bronze and upright granite markers, mausoleum crypts in the historic Elkin and Oakland Mausoleums, and cremation options across columbarium niches, in-ground cremation lots, scatter garden, and glass front display niches. The Oakland Cemetery Association procures and installs all inscriptions, markers, and monuments, and offers a memorial brick paver program for personalized Scatter Garden placements. Operations are sustained by $4M+ in perpetual care and operating funds, and customer service is delivered through 24/7 phone support, weekday office visits, and an ArcGIS-based online grave lookup.

Product overview

Oakland Cemetery is a 155+ year-old cemetery in Indiana, PA offering a comprehensive portfolio of interment services including traditional in-ground burial options (flush bronze markers and upright granite headstones), above-ground mausoleum entombment (Elkin Mausoleum and Oakland Mausoleum with two climate-controlled levels), and cremation services (columbaria, glass front niches, in-ground cremation lots, scatter garden). The cemetery sits on 34 acres and includes specialty areas such as a dedicated Jewish community section with 400 plots, memorial brick programs, and online grave lookup tools. The cemetery emphasizes financial strength with over $4 million in perpetual care funds and operates under governance of a Board of Directors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Elkin Mausoleum A historic above-ground mausoleum built in 1915 in Indiana, PA, originally commissioned for the Elkin family following the passing of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice John Pratt Elkin. Now owned by the Oakland Cemetery Association, it offers private crypt spaces for families and stands as a prominent architectural landmark within the cemetery's portfolio.
• Flag Pole Columbarium An octagonal cremation columbarium at the base of a 100-foot flagpole featuring 80 niches (12" x 12" each, accommodating 1-2 persons) for cremated remains, designed to honor veterans and first responders. Also includes over 400 in-ground cremation lots for cremated remains inurnment.
• Glass Front Niches Climate-controlled niches in the lower heritage level of the Oakland Mausoleum, allowing families to display urns and personal memorabilia behind glass fronts. Designed for preservation of cremated remains and personalized memorial artifacts.
• Oakland Gardens Garden area designed exclusively for cremated remains inurnment, featuring three above-ground granite columbaria (single and double options), in-ground options, family inurnment benches, memorial flower vases, and a dedicated veteran section. Central feature is the imported Italian 'Diane' fountain. Provides nearly 500 crypts and plots for cremated remains.
• Oakland Mausoleum Historic two-level mausoleum with upstairs level featuring vaulted wood ceilings and stained glass windows, plus a lower heritage level with climate-controlled glass front niches. Offers both traditional crypts and cremation niches for interment of caskets and cremated remains.
• Scatter Garden New garden area for spreading cremated remains in a tranquil setting with landscaping and benches. Offers optional engraved memorial brick pavers for purchase, allowing families to permanently honor loved ones whose remains have been scattered in the garden.
• Traditional Options In-ground traditional burial options including flush bronze marker areas and upright granite headstone sections. Provides both single grave spaces and large family lots for casket burials on the 34-acre cemetery grounds.
• Memorial Brick Purchase Engraved memorial brick paver program allowing families to honor loved ones with personalized bricks featuring name, birth year, and death year. Maximum 14 characters for first and last names, 4 characters for birth and death years. Bricks are placed in the Scatter Garden for permanent display. Pay online or by check in office.
• Maps & Graves Lookup Online graves lookup system powered by ArcGIS mapping technology hosted at legacymark.maps.arcgis.com, allowing visitors and families to search for burial locations by name across the Oakland Cemetery grounds.

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Congregation of Beth Israel SynagoguecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949In 1949, the Congregation of Beth Israel Synagogue entered into an agreement with Oakland Cemetery providing a dedicated area within the cemetery with 400 plots to be used by the Jewish community. This partnership established a permanent Jewish burial section within the cemetery grounds.
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOakland Gardens includes a dedicated section that provides special consideration for veterans with assistance provided by the VA. This allows eligible veterans to use government-supplied markers in designated sections of the cemetery.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Recompose: Pioneer in human composting (natural organic reduction) as an alternative to both burial and cremation. Operates in a niche overlapping Oakland's cremation/traditional burial territory, illustrating the long-term disposition landscape and potential adjacent disruption.
• Tulip Cremation: Modern direct-to-consumer cremation provider offering simplified, online-arranged cremation services. Represents an emerging alternative to traditional cemetery-based cremation that could compete with Oakland's columbarium and niche offerings for cremation-focused customers.

Broad incumbents

• Carriage Services: Public funeral and cemetery operator providing both traditional burial and cremation services across multiple states. Comparable product mix (plots, crypts, niches, markers) with a more decentralized operating model than Oakland's single-site structure.
• Foundation Partners Group: Private-equity-backed operator of funeral homes and cemeteries across the U.S., offering traditional burial, cremation, and memorialization products comparable to Oakland's portfolio. Operates at scale with a sales-led GTM motion absent from Oakland's community-based model.
• Service Corporation International: The largest funeral services and cemetery operator in North America, operating under brands including Dignity Memorial. Operates hundreds of cemeteries with traditional burial, mausoleum, and cremation options comparable to Oakland's offerings, though at vastly greater scale and as a public company.

Direct peers

• Everstory Partners: Cemetery and funeral operator built through roll-up acquisitions, offering traditional burial, cremation, and memorialization products. Highly comparable business model and revenue mix, operating at greater scale through multi-site ownership.
• StoneMor Inc. Dedicated cemetery operator historically focused on selling interment rights, mausoleum crypts, and cremation niches across U.S. cemeteries. Closely comparable to Oakland's mix of interment-rights sales, marker/monument revenue, and cremation infrastructure across a multi-site footprint.
• NorthStar Memorial Group: Private-equity-backed acquirer and operator of cemetery properties across the U.S., with a focus on perpetual care and interment-rights sales. Directly comparable business model to Oakland's interment-rights revenue stream and perpetual care fund structure.

Regional players

• Park Lawn Corporation: Canadian funeral and cemetery operator providing burial, cremation, and memorialization services across multiple Canadian provinces. Comparable interment-rights business model and cremation/traditional mix, though primarily serving Canadian geographies rather than the U.S. mid-Atlantic.
• Arbor Memorial: Canadian cemetery and funeral services operator with full-service interment offerings including traditional burial, mausoleums, columbariums, and cremation niches. Comparable product mix to Oakland's full interment portfolio, though serving Canadian rather than U.S. customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/oakland-cemetery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Oakland Cemetery