Westminster Memorial Park and Mortuary

A mid-century funeral home for today’s families

Located on nearly a full city block bordered on the east and south by Beach Boulevard and Bolsa Avenue, respectively, Westminster Memorial Park Mortuary was built in the early 1960s. It retains its sophisticated midcentury style and has been updated for the modern day.

From the moment you walk through the front doors and into our spacious lobby, you will feel welcome and soothed. Large monitors in our arrangement rooms help make the funeral planning process easier. The smaller of 2 chapels seats around 60 and is specially ventilated for services that incorporate incense. The larger of the 2 chapels seats around 200 and features large stained glass windows on all 4 sides of the chapel.

On-site crematory

Westminster Memorial Park Mortuary has a private on-site crematory, which means your loved one never leaves our care. Cremation is important in certain religions and cultures, and more and more people are choosing cremation over more traditional burial options, but most people aren’t familiar with all of their choices when it comes to cremation. You may choose a direct cremation without a funeral or memorial service of any kind; a funeral with the body present, followed by cremation; or a cremation followed by a cemetery service or a celebration of life. If you wish, cremated remains can be interred at Westminster Memorial Park.

Celebration of a lifetime

Our funeral team comprises experienced, compassionate professionals who listen to what you say and execute with exquisite care. We believe unique lives deserve unique celebrations. Our experienced staff knows just how to create your vision or bring your loved one's final wishes to reality. We offer everything from a traditional funeral to a modern celebration of life.

Personal touches can be small—photo displays, multimedia tributes and personal playlists are common—or more elaborate. We could hang a cross behind the casket, have a kayak at the front door, give out cotton candy at the end of the service or have our team wear sports jerseys. And if it's a grand celebration of life that you're looking for—a modern gathering with themed decor, live music, favorite food and drinks, and a send-off that reflects the personality and passions of yourself or your loved one—that's our speciality.

These are just a few ideas. Let's come up with something uncommon and memorable to honor your sailing enthusiast, fashion lover, golf pro or home chef.

Call or come visit

We are proud that Westminster families have depended on us for funeral, cremation and memorial services for decades, and we pledge to uphold the fine traditions on which this funeral home is built. You can trust us to take care of every detail for yourself or your loved one. For more information, please call us. A team member is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

History

Nineteen twenty-four wasn’t a great year to open a cemetery, but the investors who established Central Memorial Park in Westminster could not see the future nor did they have the advantage of hindsight. They did not fare well during the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent financial crisis. They lost all of their funding and fled the area.

Development of the memorial park

Then in the 1930s, Orange County, which had assumed responsibility for the cemetery, found new investors to take on the remaining land and develop it as a memorial park. For decades, Westminster Memorial Park operated as a standalone cemetery, adding mausoleums 1 at a time in a row diagonally along the original entrance, at the corner of Hazard Avenue and Beach Boulevard. In the early '60s, the owners added a mortuary and an architecturally significant chapel, which quickly became a landmark in the area.

Commitment to innovation

In 1994, the Dignity Memorial® network welcomed Westminster Memorial Park and Westminster Memorial Park Mortuary, as well as Peek Funeral Home (which sits on the same block) into the family.Through the years, both the cemetery and the funeral home have upheld a commitment to innovation and community, working to customize services for many faiths, cultures and family traditions, and building new gardens and structures, such as the awe-inspiring Garden of Peaceful Eternity and the Mausoleum of Eternal Light. With uncommon beauty and exceptional style, Westminster Memorial Park Mortuary and Westminster Memorial Park have continually worked together to provide for the funeral, burial, cremation and cemetery needs of central Orange County for decades.

Westminster Memorial Park cemetery

First opened as Central Memorial Park in 1924, Westminster Memorial Park is undoubtedly one of the more beautiful cemetery properties in Southern California. Comprising 150 pastoral acres, the memorial park has captured the affections and imaginations of city and chamber committees who have recognized the property for its beauty, as well as that of thousands of families of various social, cultural and religious backgrounds who have decided to have their loved ones buried here.

Packed with trees

With an estimated 1,300 trees—perhaps more trees per acre than any other cemetery in the area—along with graceful statues and numerous water features, including bubbling fountains, a peaceful stream, a waterfall and a lake, this perennially pretty property is a feast for both the eyes and the heart.

A cemetery for the world with burial options

Burial options at our award-winning cemetery include in-ground interment, above-ground entombment or inurnment, and we are inclusive of a wide range of Orange County populations. A walk through the park reveals wonderfully colorful gardens built with the desires of the Hispanic community in mind, an Islamic garden with thousands of interment spaces, 5 gardens honoring U.S. war veterans, the Rose of Sharon Korean garden and the spectacular Garden of Peaceful Eternity, which is dedicated to the area’s Vietnamese residents.

The sublime Mausoleum of Eternal Light is unlike many mausoleums. Designed as a light, airy space bringing the outside in, it is essentially an outdoor space with a roof. Three huge skylights flood the building with sunlight. Living trees flank 3 flowing water features. Four types of granite were imported from from Carrara, Italy, to create the crypts and niches offered here.

Annual community events

Westminster Memorial Park holds an annual Easter sunrise service. We also hold a festive Memorial Day observance, complete with a marching band and a dove release, to honor the men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces. The colorful Día de los Muertos—Day of the Dead—celebration takes place each November. It is followed in December by a holiday remembrance service. Hundreds of people attend these special events, which bring families and the community together to reflect on their loved ones and celebrate life.

Contact us for all your cemetery needs

Though photographs convey a lot, we invite you to see our magnificent property for yourself. You are welcome to visit Westminster Memorial Park any time, and if you would like a guided tour and more information about our cemetery services, please call us.

Modern Vietnamese funeral and cremation services

Orange County is home to the largest concentration of Vietnamese people outside of Saigon, Vietnam. Westminster Memorial Park Mortuary is experienced at performing traditional Vietnamese funeral services, and also services that are a blend of American and Vietnamese cultural traditions. Whatever you want, our funeral team will be happy to help create the funeral or memorial service you desire.

Garden of Peaceful Eternity

When the Garden of Peaceful Eternity was established in 1996 at Westminster Memorial Park, there was nothing like it in the area. Despite the sizable Vietnamese population in Westminster and surrounding communities, no cemetery had a magnificent section dedicated just to Vietnamese residents. We answered the call, and since it opened, the garden has been so popular that it has been quadrupled in size.

This special cemetery section features a large pagoda, upright pagoda-style monuments, private family estates and bench estates. It is the home of the Boat People memorial, a dramatic bronze sculpture by artist ViVi Vo Hung Kiet, dedicated in 2009.

Other cemetery sections dedicated to the Vietnamese community include the Angel Falls, Dragon River, Mother Buddha, Resurrected Savior and Mother Mary gardens.

A landmark chapel

The Main Chapel is a striking A-frame structure built in the early 1960s. Easily spotted from Beach Boulevard, it rises from the landscape as a landmark in central Orange County. Inside, the sloping ceiling soars with chandeliers dropping 20 feet. The chapel's pews seat up to 200, but the most spectacular part of the space are the triangular stained glass windows. The chapel often hosts community events, such as Escape School® programs for children.