East Lawn Palms Mortuary & Cemetery

Renovated Tucson funeral home

The first thing visitors often notice about East Lawn Palm Mortuary is its unique door at the main entrance. The large, hand-carved wooden double door is quintessentially Tucson—and the gateway to our warm and inviting state-of-the-art funeral home facility, which we remodeled in 2016.

Whether you want a small gathering or large, extravagant celebration, our funeral home can accommodate services of all types and sizes. In addition to our chapel, we have smaller rooms for visitations and intimate gatherings and a reception room for hosting catered events after a service in the funeral home or cemetery.

Let us take care of your food and drink needs. With our on-site catering services, we can host formal sit-down dinners, continental breakfast buffets or simply hors d’oeuvres and canapés—you name it.

A chapel with a view

Our non-denominational chapel is simple and unadorned. (Who needs fancy stained-glass windows and elaborate altars when you have a view like ours?) A panoramic, floor-to-ceiling window at the front of the chapel provides expansive views of the Catalinas and lets natural light stream in during daytime services. The chapel’s seating is flexible and can accommodate a large group. New audio/visual equipment offers families the capability to display a memorial slideshow or video of a loved one during a service.

The chapel’s vaulted ceiling highlights the magnificent and curved paneled wooden walls, which are not only architecturally stunning but also provide excellent acoustics to the room. A private room just off the front of the chapel is available to family members and guests who desire a quiet place to remember and reflect on a loved one’s life.

Let’s celebrate life

How will you honor your loved one’s legacy? At East Lawn Palms, we are experts at creating unique and memorable tributes that celebrate a person’s passions and personality. For instance, if he was a skilled equestrian, we could have a procession with horses and give guests personalized horseshoes as a keepsake. Did she spend her winters on the slopes? We could transform our chapel into a winter wonderland and serve après-ski treats like hot chocolate, spiced apple cider and cheese fondue. We can find inspiration almost anywhere. Just leave the details—no matter how big or small—to our imaginative team.

We embrace diversity

Tucson has a diverse population, and East Lawn Palms Mortuary serves families of all faiths, backgrounds and religions. Our team is familiar with many different funeral customs and rites and is committed to honoring every family’s traditions. To better serve our evolving community, our team members speak Spanish and Farsi.

All are welcome at East Lawn Palms. As a member of the Dignity Memorial® national network of funeral, cremation and cemetery providers, we offer unparalleled amenities as well as compassionate care and personalized service you can trust. Please contact us for any reason at all. We'll be there for you.

History

Established in 1948, East Lawn Palms Cemetery was originally known as Grantwood Memorial Park. Notable Arizonans Ashby Lohse and Sam Goddard played an integral part in the growth and development of the cemetery.

The original funeral home at East Lawn Palms Cemetery was founded in the early 1960s. In 1979, East Lawn Palms Mortuary and East Lawn Palms Cemetery joined the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, burial, cremation and cemetery providers, and a new funeral home was built on the grounds of the cemetery.

East Lawn Palms Cemetery

The 52-acre East Lawn Palms Cemetery is a lovely green oasis in the dry, arid city of Tucson. The tranquil setting of our gardens is set against the gorgeous backdrop of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Numerous queen palms, eucalyptus, pines and live oak trees provide shade on hot days while lovely annual blooming flowers provide color to a desert landscape. With its meticulously manicured gardens, calming water features, elegant statues and incredible views, East Lawn Palms is a quiet and beautiful final resting place for loved ones.

Burial options for every family

We offer many private and peaceful burial spots. A walk down one of our winding paths showcases a range of interment and inurnment options: traditional ground burial with flat or upright markers, crypts and niches in 2 outdoor mausoleum complexes, columbaria, cremation niches and benches, custom-built private and semiprivate estates, and scattering gardens.We have many distinct gardens located within our cemetery grounds, several of which are dedicated to serving veterans or those of particular religious faiths, such as Catholicism, Judaism and Islam. Of course, all families, no matter their background, religion or culture can be buried at East Lawn Palms.

A unique cremation garden

More and more families are opting for cremation, so we make sure we offer not only the cremation memorialization choices today's families are looking for, but also naturally beautiful final resting places specifically for cremated remains. Our cremation garden, Nature Garden West, is one of our more popular sections and the most modern in appearance, with paths that lead to a brick fountain. Cremation memorialization options in this garden include columbaria, memorial benches, niches, cored post markers and tablets. It is a one-of-a-kind garden and a one-of-a-kind final resting place.

Come say hello

We invite you to stop by at any time to meet our friendly staff and take a guided tour of our beautiful cemetery grounds. We are committed to meeting your needs and stand ready to serve many more generations of Arizona families.

Annual events for the Tucson community

The teams at East Lawn Palm Mortuary and East Lawn Palm Cemetery understand that serving the community doesn’t end after a funeral or cemetery service. As an active part of the Tucson community, the cemetery and funeral home host events throughout the year that all are invited to attend.

Each May, East Lawn Palm Mortuary hosts a Memorial Day service in Garden of Honor, which is dedicated to veterans and military families. The event honors those who have given their lives in service to our country. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Chapter 4903 help us host this popular event. American flags are placed throughout our cemetery on the graves of service members by local Boy Scouts troops. This creates a stirring backdrop to the day’s celebrations. Attendees are treated to a barbecue lunch.

In December, East Lawn Palm hosts a Night of Remembrance for families who have lost loved ones in the past year. All are invited to attend this moving event. Guests are invited to hang ornaments with the names and photos of loved ones on a tree and light candles in their honor. Community leaders from many religious groups are present at this annual event.

Erik Hite Foundation honors fallen public servants

In 2008, Tucson police officer Erik Hite died from a gunshot wound sustained in the line of duty. The Erik Hite Foundation, a non-profit organization, was established to provide a childcare center and family outreach programs that offer safe and positive environments for those employed by law enforcement and emergency services and their families. Erik is buried at East Lawn Palms Cemetery. Each fall, we join the Erik Hite Foundation to remember and celebrate the lives of those who have been called into public service. This annual event hosts other community organizations, food vendors and raffle prize drawings.