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About

Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home and Valhalla Gardens of Memory serve families in Belleville, Illinois, and around St. Clair County. Working together, the funeral home and cemetery allow you to conveniently take care of all your funeral and burial arrangements.

Personal funeral planning

At Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home, our team considers it a calling to serve grieving families. We offer understanding and care as we help you through the funeral planning process. With us, you have the option of a traditional or contemporary service that honors your loved one.

Every life has a story, and we showcase that story through personalized funeral and cremation services that reflect individuality. Our team welcomes the opportunity to help you create a service that celebrates life and brings peace to family and friends. We also offer refreshments and catering in our spacious event room.

Valhalla Gardens of Memory

Valhalla Gardens of Memory, located at 3412 Frank Scott Parkway West in Belleville, is a well-landscaped cemetery that occupies approximately 67 acres, offering families a peaceful and serene setting.

The cemetery grounds feature numerous trees, beautiful flowers, gentle hills, statues and a lake with live swans, ducks and other wildlife. Additional amenities include a veterans pool surrounded by markers of retired flags, an Avenue of Flags court and flush-to-the-ground monuments. We also offer committal services at our mausoleum.

The cremation garden

Opened in the fall of 2019, the cremation garden allows for more than 275 inurnments. Nestled on the west bank of Swan Lake and located directly in the center of the cemetery, the garden is home to a marble and granite ossuary columbarium and a cenotaph. The ossuary provides cremation memorialization for 49 loved ones. Individual and companion posts and tablets surround the columbarium, allowing many more families to create personalized cremation tributes.

Commitment to Belleville

The teams at Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home and Valhalla Gardens of Memory remain active in the St. Clair County community. Each year, we host a silent Memorial Day service, featuring our Avenue of Flags that has over 1,500 flag displays and pays tribute to our veterans and military families.

Among the largest in the U.S., the Avenue of Flags tribute flies the original flag, in most cases, that was draped on the casket of veterans in alphabetical order with a special name tag attached. A printed program with a map is provided, so visitors and family members can find their loved one’s flag along the winding avenues of the cemetery. Every year, thousands visit this all-day silent tribute to veterans buried at Valhalla Gardens of Memory.

Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home and Valhalla Gardens of Memory have served families for more than 85 years. It is our pleasure to provide you with the attention you need and the care you deserve. Please contact us to learn more about our funeral home and cemetery options.

WHV 2020 - Level 4We honor veterans

At Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home and Valhalla Gardens, we understand the unique needs of America’s veterans and their families. As a Level Four Founding Community Partner with We Honor Veterans, we are honored to serve our nation’s heroes and take this responsibility seriously. We have taken steps to ensure our staff is knowledgeable of all the benefits available to military veterans and their families.

In addition, we host community events annually in honor of our veterans and work closely with local veterans organizations. With respect, integrity and dignity, we will walk you through the steps of creating a veteran’s memorial service that truly honors the life and sacrifice of your loved one.

History

Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home in Belleville, Illinois, was founded in September 1930 by Jefferson Bush (J.B.) Azbill. For over 85 years, we have remained dedicated to helping families plan funeral and cremation services that celebrate their loved ones, growing into the full-service funeral home we are today.

Early years

The cemetery, which was originally known as Valhalla Burial Park, was the 1st memorial lawn burial park in southwestern Illinois. Development was made up of themed garden sections with spacious lots and walkways surrounded by various trees, bushes and flowers. Memorials were custom, decorative, flat bronze on concrete foundations to maintain a park-like setting. 

Azbill passed away suddenly in 1936, after a short illness. His widow, Freda Azbill, took over management and development of the Belleville funeral home and cemetery. Freda remained active as president for 54 years until her death in 1990. Freda was responsible for producing and staging the Avenue of Flags in 1951.

Growing to serve families in Belleville

In 1959, the 1st section of the Valhalla Sanctuary Chapel of Memories Mausoleum was constructed. It included crypts and niches, was constructed of concrete for strength and included a beautiful custom stained-glass window made in Manheim, Germany. Several additions have been added over the years, including more stained-glass windows and statuary art from around the world.

As Valhalla Gardens of Memory grew, new garden sections were enhanced with beautiful full-size marble and bronze statues sculpted in Italy from the same quarries that artist Michelangelo used. One statue in particular, from the Garden of Ascension, was displayed during the 1964 World’s Fair in New York on its way to Belleville.

Local family tradition

David Evans, Freda Azbill’s grandson, who had joined the staff in 1978, took over management of the funeral home and cemetery park after her passing. He continued the construction of new sections, including an underground lawn crypt section, in-ground and above-ground cremation niche options, a crematorium and developed the Valhalla Garden Mausoleum, so families would have multiple choices for their final resting place.

In 1996, Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home opened, offering families a wide range of funeral and cremation service options as well as memorialization choices and the convenience, if desired, of having the cemetery nearby.

Working together, everyone at Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home and Valhalla Gardens of Memory is poised to continue our many decades of service to the greater Belleville and St. Clair County area.

Amenities

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Every Detail Remembered

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An experience like no other, carefully crafted by our caring planning team.

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Cemetery & Cremation Property

A final resting place that reflects a unique life and legacy for generations to come.

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Personalized Catered Receptions

From desserts and appetizers to a sit-down meal, we can arrange it all.

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Our Collections

A lasting remembrance as unique and special as the individual it represents.

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Create an unforgettable memorial that perfectly reflects the life lived.

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Plan a Simple Cremation

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Honor the memory of your loved one with cemetery flower placement. You choose the flowers. You choose the months. We do the rest.

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Remember the one you love

Honor the memory of your loved one with cemetery flower placement. You choose the flowers. You choose the months. We do the rest.

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Not finding what you are looking for? Search for your loved one's obituary across any of our other locations.

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Ratings & Reviews

Verified Customer Reviews

Since 2005, many of our customers have taken the time to tell us how we did each year via our Voice of the Customer program. Our star ratings and comments from families come directly from these surveys.

"Everyone at Valhalla were extremely nice and accommodating. They go above and beyond what might be expected. Special thanks to Tim Gibbons for all of his help."

jd-power-verified-checkmark Verified Customer

October 2021

"We were impressed by the attention of all of the staff to our needs. They even looked up some very old records where family members made arrangements back in the 1950's."

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October 2021

"Staff was very knowledgeable, courteous and friendly. Services were mentioned that were unique. Everyone loved the harp and the balloon launch. Staff made dealing with an upsetting situation manageable."

jd-power-verified-checkmark Verified Customer

October 2021

"Everything was handled to the nth degree of detail. Everyone was so kind and willing to help. There was no pressure at all and everything was simply beautiful. My fathe would have felt like it was over the top but for the family, we thought it was perfect in every way."

jd-power-verified-checkmark Verified Burial & Memorial Service Customer

August 2021

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