Green Acres Mortuary & Cemetery

Our diverse Scottsdale clientele

Over the years, Scottsdale has become an increasingly diverse area, and families from all over the valley choose Green Acres Mortuary. We are proud that our funeral home serves families from all religions, cultures and backgrounds. Our team is well-versed in many funeral customs and have designed services for families of many faiths and beliefs, including Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, non-religious and non-denominational.

Let's celebrate life

Every person’s life deserves to be celebrated in a unique and creative way. The Green Acres Mortuary team is committed to working with you to create a lasting tribute that celebrates your loved one’s passions and shines a light on his or her life story. Our celebrants specialize one-of-a-kind, personalized celebrations and take the time to listen to all of your wants and needs.

There are countless ways to celebrate a life. Our celebrants have organized everything from a Hawaiian luau, where guests and staff members wore Hawaiian shirts, to a Monopoly-themed event, where the program for the service was a Monopoly card and guests took home Monopoly tokens as keepsakes. With a little inspiration and imagination, we help you create a tribute that have a lasting impact.

Our renovated funeral home

Light-filled, modern and spacious, our funeral home is ideal for everything from large events to intimate gatherings. Our bright and airy chapel, aptly named Chapel of Light, comfortably seats more than 200 guests. The chapel has 2 flat-screen televisions for sharing a video slideshow of treasured photographs and a premier sound system for a personal playlist.

We also have 2 visitation rooms for smaller affairs and a room for catered receptions—and we handle the food and drinks. From a breakfast taco buffet to a cookie bar, from a hamburger lunch to a sushi dinner, let us know what you'd like and we'll work hard to make it happen.

Your trusted provider

Since 1998, Green Acres Mortuary and Cemetery have been members of the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers. All of our services are designed to give families peace of mind at one of the most challenging times in their lives. Our experienced staff knows just how to create your vision or bring your loved one's final wishes to reality.

Green Acres Mortuary and Cemetery are located near Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and downtown Scottsdale. You are always welcome to visit us to meet our staff and tour the funeral home and cemetery. Please give us a call to learn more.

History

Founded in 1957 by Lisle and Ruth Hawkins, Green Acres Cemetery was established when Scottsdale, Arizona, was still a young town. The funeral home was added in 1962, making Green Acres Mortuary and Cemetery Arizona's first mortuary and cemetery on the same property.

The Hawkins family starts the business

Lisle and Ruth Hawkins and their sons moved to Scottsdale from Montana in 1957. They had no prior experience in the funeral or cemetery industries, yet they transformed 40 acres of farmland into a successful business.

When building the cemetery, David Hawkins created the water fountain in the Garden of Flowers. To this day the fountain remains lit at night. Before Scottsdale was fully developed, the fountain could be seen from miles away.

Ahead of its time

In addition to being the first combination funeral home and cemetery in Arizona, Green Acres also is home to the first nonvisitation mausoleum west of the Mississippi and the third in the whole United States. Built in 1973, it is called Peace Mausoleum. It was followed by a second nonvisitation mausoleum, Heritage Mausoleum, in 1980, and a third called Serenity Mausoleum in 1995.

Notable burials

As you wander through our lovely grounds, you may recognize a few names. Several celebrities are buried at Green Acres, including an actor from The Wizard of Oz, an actor from The Little Rascals, a former Miss America and a professional wrestler. Of course, you don’t need to be famous to be buried here—everyone is welcome at Green Acres Cemetery.

Honoring our legacy

Lisle died in 1998. Ruth died in 2006, but their legacy lives on. They are entombed in a private mausoleum inside the Heritage Mausoleum. Today, Green Acres Cemetery and Mortuary are members of the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers. We work hard to uphold the tradition of fine compassionate care and value instilled by our founders.

Green Acres Cemetery

Scottsdale, Arizona, is a city in the desert, but you would never know it at Green Acres Cemetery. Our 15 verdant gardens, beautiful ponds and tranquil water features offer a peaceful respite from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Furthermore, our extensive burial and memorialization options allow families to choose a resting spot that meets their traditions and budget.

Since 1957, Scottsdale families have trusted us with their loved ones—and we are continually evolving and expanding our cemetery to provide the services and products that our diverse community expects.

Many burial options

Whether a family prefers traditional burial, mausoleum entombment or cremation memorialization, we provide a complete range of choices. Cemetery spaces may be selected from several beautiful gardens, each with its own theme and features. As an alternative to ground burial, we offer a wide selection of mausoleum crypts in the Mausoleum of Love, Peace Mausoleum, Heritage Mausoleum and the Serenity Mausoleum.

For those choosing cremation, we offer ground interment, marble shuttered niches in our mausoleums or placement in columbaria, either in glass-front or bronze niches.

An affordable entombment alternative

Green Acres has 3 nonvisitation community mausoleums: Peace, Heritage and Serenity. Peace Mausoleum was built in 1973 and was the first nonvisitation mausoleum west of the Mississippi. A nonvisitation mausoleum offers underground entombment, instead of traditional above-ground entombment, which means the crypt cannot be visited. Instead visitors pay respects at an above-ground memorial. Nonvisitation mausoleum entombment costs less than other types of entombment.

Personalized memorials

Green Acres has one of the larger selections of private family mausoleums and community mausoleum spaces in the Scottsdale area. Walk-in mausoleum designs feature bronze doors and stained-glass windows. Comprehensive architectural design and intricate personal symbols add beauty to a custom private family mausoleum. These handsome buildings attest to the character, success and achievements of an individual or family. We also have many sites reserved for constructing private walk-in mausoleums.

For families choosing cremation, options include a peaceful cremation garden, bronze memorial plaques placed on a memorial wall, garden niches by a small pond and family settings with benches.

Garden dedicated to Jewish families

Gan Ohav Shalam Garden is dedicated to families of the Jewish faith. With stately features and mature trees, this garden is truly beautiful. Within the garden, there is a section reserved for Temple Harzion, Temple Emanual and Temple Solel—and each section has been dedicated by a rabbi. In addition, a wing of one of our mausoleums has been dedicated for Reform Jewish entombment. Of course, those who practice the Jewish faith are welcome to be buried in any part of our cemetery.

Ready to serve future generations

An endowment care fund provides for the perpetual maintenance of Green Acres Cemetery, and we have plenty of room for future development. We welcome you to come see the cemetery for yourself. Visit anytime, or call us to set up a tour. We are happy to show you around.

On-site crematory

Not everyone knows that there are many cremation options. If you are interested in cremation, our funeral home associates can explain the process and the different memorial and burial options. From a direct cremation without a service or a witness to a full funeral service before or after the cremation and more, we help you understand this increasingly common choice.

For families who choose the time-honored tradition of cremation, our full-service funeral home has a private crematory with a witness room on the property. This gives Green Acres Mortuary complete control of a cremation from start to finish and means your loved one never leaves our care. If desired, cremated remains may be buried at Green Acres Cemetery.