Serving the memorial needs of the Turlock community for over a century

BY KRISTINA HACKER Turlock Journal

Community leader John Mitchell donated 5 acres of land to the Turlock Cemetery Association in 1886; today, 137 years later, Turlock Funeral Home and Memorial Park sits on 100 acres and serves more than 600 families a year. What started out as community cemetery all those years ago, is now a full-service funeral home and memorial park and the largest funeral home in Stanislaus County. Lonnie Alvares has been working at Turlock Funeral Home and Memorial Park for the past 29 years, starting as a groundskeeper and now serving as the company’s CEO and President.

“When I first started here in 1995 there were five employees and now with the cemetery and funeral home there are 40 full-time employees,” said Alvares about the company’s growth.

Alvares said that the Turlock area is unique in that where funeral arrangements have recently leaned toward cremation in the past several years, traditional burial arrangements are what the majority of local families choose.

“In our rural area, because of the cultures and religions, we at Turlock Funeral Home are still seeing an 80 percent traditional to 20 percent cremation rate,” Alvares said.

Turlock Funeral Home and Memorial Park takes its role in the community to heart, offer tribute services, grief support and veterans services.

Turlock Memorial Park has hosted a community Memorial Day event for the past 59 years. A week before the holiday, American flags are placed along the cemeteries’ pathways creating an Avenue of Flags and individual flags are places on every U.S. veteran’s grave site. “Memorial Day is the biggest event we put on throughout the year. We go the extra mile to thank all of the veterans who have served,” said Alvares.

Turlock Funeral Home and Memorial Park is also planning for the future, with develop planned on an additional 10 acres of land on the corner of Tully Road and Canal Drive starting this summer, according to Alvares.