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About

Sunset Funeral Home and Sunset Memorial Gardens are sister locations that have provided compassionate care to families in Machesney Park and the surrounding area since 1952. The funeral home and cemetery are always here to help when you need us. Working together, Sunset Funeral Home and Sunset Memorial Gardens provide a convenient place to plan funeral, cremation and cemetery services.

Your Rockford funeral home

Standard venue at Sunset Funeral Home and Memorial GardensSunset Funeral Home is refreshingly modern. You will appreciate its light colors and comfortable seating, from inviting leather couches in common areas to padded chapel chairs.

In the chapel, gleaming wood floors and exposed ceiling beams complement stained-glass windows that depict soothing nature scenes. The space seats up to 250; an overflow room holds another 40. A reception area seats up to 45, but if your group is larger, we can convert the chapel to seat even more.

Whether you're thinking about a breakfast buffet or a sandwich lunch, an ice cream social or a pasta dinner, our catering service can handle any request. From food prep to waitstaff to cleanup, our boundless hospitality relieves some of the stress that comes with losing a loved one.

Learn about our catering and reception services.

Specializing in personalized funerals and memorials

Because Sunset Funeral Home and Sunset Memorial Gardens are adjoining properties, you can stay right on the grounds for a memorial, cemetery placement and reception—which lets you spend more time with your family and focus on remembering your loved one with a unique memorial.

Let us take care of everything, from writing an obituary to creatively decorating a space to helping with printed programs. We can even hire a band, yarn-bomb a section of the cemetery or have favors embossed with your loved one's name.

We have lots of ideas and planning resources.

Cremation in Rockford

Signature Dedication at Sunset Funeral Home & Memorial GardensThere are many options for cremation in Machesney Park—and they're not all equal. We specialize in cremation services that honor loved ones in personalized ways, and families love our all-inclusive pricing. With expertise in scattering ashes and a friendly team who pays attention to every detail, we provide service that is second to none.

More and more people are choosing cremation over traditional burial, but most aren’t familiar with the many options:

  • a cremation without a funeral or memorial service of any kind.
  • a funeral with your loved one present, followed by cremation.
  • a cremation followed by a scattering, cemetery memorialization or celebration of life—or all three.

If you're interested in cemetery placement, Sunset Memorial Gardens is among the prettiest cemeteries in the area, offering a cremation garden, bench estates and cremation niches.

And for those who wish for a more dramatic memorial, Neptune Memorial Reef is an underwater cremation garden off the coast of Florida. Or a Celestis Memorial Spaceflight takes ashes into space for a little while or forever.

Learn more about our cremation services.

We Honor Veterans

At Sunset Funeral Home and Sunset Memorial Gardens, we understand the unique needs of America’s veterans and their families. As Level Four Founding Community Partners with We Honor Veterans, we are honored to serve our nation’s heroes and take this responsibility seriously.

Our team is well-versed in military funeral honors and the burial benefits offered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 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.

We also host community events annually in honor of veterans and work closely with local veterans organizations.

Read about how we honor veterans and watch a video about our services.

Funeral and cremation planning in advance

In addition to assisting with an immediate need, Sunset Funeral Home specializes in working with families to make final arrangements in advance. When you plan ahead, you relieve your family from financial and emotional burdens while ensuring your wishes are met. We offer in-person and virtual consultations, as well as a free Personal Planning Guide.

Find out everything you need to know about prepaid funeral plans.

Sunset Memorial Gardens

Last Supper Mausoleum at Sunset Memorial GardensSunset Memorial Gardens comprises 54 acres of meticulously manicured grounds in picturesque Winnebago County. With mature trees and many special sections, it is a peaceful final resting place.

Sprawling green lawns host many varieties of maple, ash and oak trees, which provide a stunning show of color each fall. Flat markers help preserve the park-like feeling of the cemetery property.

Cemetery property

The cemetery offers in-ground burial, private estates, two chapel mausoleums and cremation gardens.

Mausoleums are clad in marble. They are appointed with couches and chairs for visitors who want to sit for a bit and reflect on their loved ones' lives.

The cremation garden has bench estates, cremation niches and places for personalized memorials. In 2017, we added niches to the veterans garden.

Remembering those we love

Cemetery grounds at Sunset Funeral HomeWe realize that the first holiday season after a loved one’s passing can be a difficult time. We're here for you. Each December, the Sunset team hosts a service to honor and remember those lost during the year. Many families attend to feel comforted by being with others who are going through a similar experience. We serve light refreshments and offer flowers to those who wish to decorate their loved ones' memorials during this time of healing and fellowship.

Lean on us

Basic venue at Sunset Funeral Home and Memorial GardensLet the compassionate team at Sunset Funeral Home and Sunset Memorial Gardens guide you to make thoughtful decisions. Whether you need help planning a funeral or purchasing cemetery property right away or want to make arrangements ahead of time, just call us.

History

Herb Johnson established Sunset Memorial Gardens in 1952. The cemetery has been an integral part of Machesney Park and the greater Rockford area ever since. In 1991, Sunset Funeral Home was built on the cemetery grounds to provide convenience for families who've lost loved ones. Later in the '90s, the Chapel of Love was added to the memorial park grounds.

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Funeral & Cremation Pricing

Explore venues, cemetery and cremation property, personalized catering options, and our collection of urns and caskets.

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Plan a Simple Cremation

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Express your sympathy with flowers & gifts

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View arrangements

Bouquet of flowers on a cemetery 

Remember the one you love

Honor the memory of your loved one with cemetery flower placement.

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Floral component background

Express your sympathy with flowers & gifts

1-800-Flowers

View arrangements

Bouquet of flowers on a cemetery

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..

 cemetery-flowers-logo

Learn More

Express your sympathy with flowers & gifts

View arrangements
Floral component background

Express your sympathy with flowers & gifts

1-800-Flowers

View arrangements

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Unable to find an obituary?

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

VIEW OBITUARIES
Floral component background

Express your sympathy with flowers & gifts

1-800-Flowers

View arrangements

Vintage photos scattered

Unable to find an obituary?

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

VIEW OBITUARIES
A beautiful bouquet of flowers

Express your sympathy with flowers & gifts

 1-800-Flowers

View Arrangements
Bouquet of flowers on a cemetery

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..

 cemetery-flowers-logo

Learn More
Vintage photos scattered

Unable to find an obituary?

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

VIEW OBITUARIES

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.

"Have always done a great job for every funeral I've been to at sunset."

Verified customer reviews Verified Customer

April 2022

"Honestly working with Makenzie from the start was the best thing we did. She was very professional. her tone of voice helps keep the feeling on the room calm and you can feel her sincerty. She was very informative and did a great job. Definitely recommend her and would consider working with her again."

Verified customer reviews Verified Customer

March 2022

"Our service was put together very quickly and had to be coordinated from out of town. Everyone worked quickly for us without adding any pressure to make sure we could personalize the service. The team even made small programs for us since we were unable to get that done ourselves, which really showed me how much they care for their clients."

Verified customer reviews Verified Customer

February 2022

"I really appreciated Makenzie's calm nature she really made my sister and I feel at ease every time we had any contact with her. Makenzie was very professional about explaining the process and composing my Mom's obituary. She gave us many tips and was helpful with the scheduling funeral services while trying to make arrangements to fly my daughter

in from Arizona to attend her Grandma's funeral. I also appreciated that Makenzie was there at the nursing home after my Mom passed and we continued to see Makenzie with all aspects of contact throughout this process. It's nice to see a familiar face during such a difficult time. There was also a gentleman I want to say his name was Eric? He also was very professional & informative about the Mausoleum and questions we had about entombment. Thank you for the care you extended to our family. The Murphy Family"

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February 2022

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