Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home & Evergreen Washelli Cemetery

An inclusive funeral home

Seattle is diverse and our neighbors come from all walks of life. At Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home, we are happy to conduct your funeral or memorial service according to you and your loved one’s customs and traditions, no matter your religion, background or culture. As a non-denominational facility, we have proudly served families of all faiths for generations.

Facilities to meet your every need

Whether you are planning a viewing for close family and friends, or need a large gathering space, our funeral home has facilities to meet your needs. We offer several visitation areas to choose from for more intimate services. Our Celebration Hall is a large multi-purpose space for celebration of life and memorial events, seating about 100 and is commonly used for catered meals. And the Tribute Center, seating 150, offers state of the art technology, video screens, music and computer capabilities.

Celebrations of Life

We believe in honoring your loved one through a celebration that is personal and provides a healing experience to family and friends. Celebrations of life, led by our certified celebrants, can be held with burial or cremation and celebrate a life well lived. From traditional ceremonies to unique celebrations, we pride ourselves on helping you plan the perfect event.

Evergreen Washelli has been known for our customization and unique event options that most locations just don’t offer. Whether the funeral procession is led by an antique 1930s John Deere tractor, or the celebrant and guests are clad in hunting and fishing gear, we can custom tailor your celebration of life to honor the unique passions, hobbies and interests that inspired your loved one.

Cremation Services

Cremation can and should be, just as personal as a burial and funeral service. A service before or after the cremation offers families and friends the opportunity to express their farewell. A service can be completely customized to make it a meaningful gathering. Location on the funeral ceremony and reception are of your choosing. Let us guide you through our trusted and dignified cremation options that can be personalized to truly celebrate a life lived.

Evergreen Washelli Cemetery

Proudly Serving those who have served

People who have served in the armed forces deserve special consideration. To pay tribute to our fallen heroes, Evergreen Washelli assists in coordinating veterans burial benefits to those eligible. At Evergreen Washelli Cemetery, we can handle the details for you and provide all options so you can make an informed decision.

Available veteran benefits include: inscribed cemetery marker, U.S. flag, gun salute, payment, transportation costs. You may be eligible as a military member on active duty, military retirees, members and former members of the selected reserve, U.S. veterans of any war, U.S. veterans who served at least one term of enlistment and without a dishonorable discharge.

Create the perfect cemetery memorial

A place for healing and reflection allows family and friends to find comfort long after services are over, and establishes your family legacy. There are a wide variety of options for burial and cremation memorialization, and we honor your burial traditions, no matter your religion, background or culture.

To further personalize a place of reflection, Evergreen Washelli Cemetery offers a variety of burial, entombment and cremation memorialization options which include:

Family Estates - Design the perfect private garden estate to accommodate as many people as desired. This can be burial space, cremation space, a private mausoleum, or a combination of any of these forms of memorialization.

Snoqualmie Estates - With its running creek and bubbling fountain, these estates provide beautifully secluded and peaceful resting places that harbor quiet reflection and remembrance for generations to come.

San Juan Mausoleum - Provides a beautiful and affordable option for above-ground placement.

San Juan Mausoleum Niches - A peaceful location surrounded by nature, this option is available for those preferring outdoor, above-ground placement of cremated remains. This granite columbarium contains niches that can hold either single or companion placements.

Washelli Columbarium - A beautiful and serene setting with its many water features, this option offers bronze or glass-front niches. The glass front niches allow for personalized memorialization for individuals or multiple family members. Sheltered and handicap-accessible, the Washelli Columbarium provides comfort and convenience.

Tree-Ring Cremation Gardens - A contemporary concept in cremation memorialization, Tree-Ring Gardens is a small, elegantly landscaped garden providing for economical individual placement of cremated remains.

Cremation Gardens - We offer several traditional cremation ground-burial options including Memory Glen. Our Memory Glen Wall allows for above-ground placement. Both are located in a garden surrounded in the beauty of nature.

Lawn Crypts - The Evergreen Lawn Crypt section provides a modern and affordable burial option. Modern engineering is used to create a well-drained section of pre-placed concrete burial liners, both single and double-depth. This is a beautiful yet economical burial option for individuals and couples.

Ground Burial—Evergreen Washelli has a wide variety of ground-burial areas throughout the cemetery.

Veteran’s Cemetery

The first Memorial Day Service at the Evergreen Washelli Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery was held on May 30, 1927. At noon, a moment of silence was followed by a twenty-one-gun salute by the Battery I, 146th Field Artillery. The first headstone was placed during this service. Marine Private Thomas McElderry died on October 13, 1926. His mother, upon learning of the new cemetery for veterans, requested that he be placed where he would be honored for his military service. His body was moved to the new Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery.

Shortly after the cemetery was established, the American Legion donated a flagpole which has proudly flown our nation’s colors since. Chimes Tower, donated in the 1950s, rings the hours with its carillon. It stands as a memorial to veterans buried elsewhere, but remembered by friends and relatives.

Guarding the walkway to the Chimes Tower are two carronades from the U.S.S. Constitution which became famous after an 1812 battle against the Guerriere, a fast British frigate. The British ship fired furiously, but her shots glanced from the hull of the Constitution, whose cheering crew bestowed their sturdy frigate with the nickname “Old Ironsides.” The Constitution became a symbol of the United States’ rise to power. The presence of these guns and other symbols of military honor within the Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery serve to remind us that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.

History

Evergreen Washelli Cemetery was started in 1884 in an area known as Oak Lake by David Denny, one of the founders of Seattle. In 1887, his cousin moved his family’s plot to the new burial ground, and family and friends also began to bury their loved ones there. In 1903, Oaklake Cemetery, was inherited by David’s son, Victor who sold the property in 1914 to the American Necropolis Association, a St. Louis-based company that owned cemetery properties in several states. ANA named the cemetery “Washelli” (a Makah word meaning “west wind”).

In 1919, the Evergreen Cemetery Company started a competing cemetery on the western side of Aurora Avenue, directly opposite Washelli Cemetery. In 1922, Evergreen Cemetery purchased Washelli from ANA. The cemetery changed its name to Evergreen Washelli in 1962.

The Evergreen Washelli funeral home was started in 1972. It quickly outgrew its offices on the eastern side of Washelli and in 1994, moved into larger facilities on the Evergreen side of the property. To meet the need for a gathering and reception space, Evergreen Washelli expanded the funeral home facility in 2008 to include modern and inviting reception rooms.