Funerals & Perpetual Care at Oakwood Cemetery

No matter what your wishes are for the end of your life’s journey – be it cremation or traditional burial – there is a place for you in Oakwood Cemetery’s perpetual care. Here amidst the flowing waters, gentle hills, and historic sites, you’ll find some of the most beautiful and affordable cremation and burial options in the Capital Region. To learn more, contact us.

Oakwood Cemetery offers New York state cemetery disclosure forms for your review. Simply click here: NYS DISCLOSURE FORMS. Scroll down to see Oakwood Cemetery’s Policies and Procedures and Pricing.

Our cemetery services include:

• Pre-Planning, relieving your loved ones of an emotional and financial burden during their time of grief while documenting your personal wishes

• Burial, in Oakwood’s serene natural setting, with a choice of a single grave site or a 

• Cremation, with affordable cremation services and several interment options

• Memorial Services, free of charge, in the grandeur of the Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel historic site for our lot owners and those who choose Oakwood for cremation

• Special Remembrances honoring veterans, and options including bronze memorials, flags, and flowers

Just as you would protect your family financially with estate planning and life insurance, you can also protect them financially and emotionally, with advance purchase of a traditional burial plot or a cremation-specific plot at Oakwood Cemetery. The Oakwood staff has years of experience in guiding families through the decision-making process, and we are committed to making your experience as simple and stress-free as possible. 

Traditional Burial in the Natural Beauty of Oakwood

Individual burial spaces and family plots are available in both new and historic sections of Oakwood Cemetery. Individual plots are designed to accommodate regular, fully casketed (with burial vault) interments. Two cremated remains may also be interred in one traditional grave space. Today, many people are also interested in “green” burials. At Oakwood, you can choose environmentally friendly arrangements for in-ground burial in any of our available sections. Additionally, Oakwood welcomes your pets.

Today, many people choose cremation as an economical and eco-friendly alternative to traditional burial. This popular and affordable option, starting at $370, is the second most popular means of disposition in the United States, and is the most common practice in many parts of the world.

Since 1890, Oakwood Cemetery has been providing New York’s Capital District with compassionate, professional cremation services in our Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematory. This crematory was the 13th built in the United States, the fifth in the state of New York and the first in the Capital District. Today this practice is recognized by most religions and cultures and Oakwood performs more than 450 cremations annually.

Cremation Costs

The actual cremation service costs just a few hundred dollars. This service includes a basic metal canister (urn) for the cremated remains. We also offer a selection of more elaborate urns in both individual and companion sizes. Your family’s funeral director can assist you with your selection.

Placement of Cremated Remains

Many options exist for placement of cremated remains and urns. They may be:

• placed in a niche in Oakwood’s Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel

• buried in a traditional cemetery lot

• buried in one of Oakwood’s two specially designed peaceful outdoor settings, the Urn Garden, conveniently located near the Oakwood main entrance gate and the Overlook, situated on the bluff overlooking Lansingburgh and the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers

• or kept in a residence or church.

When William and Hannah Earl erected the chapel as a memorial to their son, Gardner, they stated in their request, “The use of the chapel for funeral services shall be for all times and forever free to those entitled to interment at Oakwood Cemetery.” 

When you choose Oakwood for perpetual care, you can host your funeral or memorial service, at no cost, in our historically significant and magnificent Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel. Featuring quartered oak ceilings, mosaic marble floors, onyx columns and eight original Tiffany stained glass windows, the Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematory has been designated a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Veterans

Oakwood Cemetery has a proud commitment to honoring our nation’s heroes, both veterans and military families. The cemetery’s large military section hosts the graves of 40 Revolutionary War fighters, approx. 800 graves of Civil War veterans, and more than 10,000 burial sites of veterans of every war ever fought by the United States. Members of the military may use the Gardner Earl Chapel at no cost with free burial services provided to indigent military veterans. Each Memorial Day, a recognition celebration is held with Veterans of Lansingburgh and other volunteers. Veteran’s Day is observed by the Cemetery, as well. Flags provided by the Cemetery are placed on the graves of all known members of the military.

Memorials

Oakwood Cemetery was built as a park-like setting, and your choice of memorial is welcomed and will enhance our site. While several of Oakwood’s sites differ in the types of memorials that may be displayed, with some permitting upright monuments and one section limited to bronze memorials installed level with the turf, Oakwood staff are here to help you select the memorial that best expresses your love.

Among the memorials that grace Oakwood Cemetery are grand mausoleums commissioned by some of Troy’s founding families and intricately carved granite sculptures including a collection of historic Celtic crosses. Oakwood is also home to many gracefully simple headstones, markers, benches and more. Each memorial has been lovingly selected to commemorate love ones. With no restrictions to standard cemetery-designed monuments.

Should you wish, Oakwood Cemetery offers bronze memorials and cemetery markers to commemorate your loved one. Bronze memorials lay flat to the ground and are mounted on a concrete or granite *base. 

Oakwood Cemetery’s memorial Fountain Section (traditional burial) and a portion of our Overlook area (cremation interment-specific) are among the areas of Oakwood that are specifically designed for bronze memorials. Bronze memorials are permitted for use in all sections of the cemetery except the Urn Garden. Cemetery markers may be used to mark the boundaries of a family plot.

You can choose from a wide array of design elements, endearment phrases, and emblems representing various religious affiliations. Surviving spouses of veterans can choose a bronze memorial for themselves which matches the style of those provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Floral Tributes & Flags

Oakwood Cemetery offers placement of floral tributes on gravesites for a reasonable fee. These include wreaths for the Christmas season and potted plants for Memorial Day. Visitors are welcome to place their own flowers decorations at the graves of their loved ones. We allow fresh flowers and potted plants, as well as plastic flowers and wreaths. 

Lot owners may purchase seasonal items directly from Oakwood and our staff will place them on the lot for you. We also offer small American flags, free of charge, that can be placed on the graves of war veterans. All floral tributes must be removed prior to our spring and fall cleanups, held on April 1 and November 1, respectively.

 Oakwood Cemetery Policies and Procedures and Pricing