East Union Cemetery, the oldest continuously-operated business in town, has a new addition to its 152-year-old site.

In October, the installation of five columbaria (niche) towers was completed, immediately adjacent to their recently installed Veteran’s Memorial.

Each of these light grey, black-flecked towers has 160 niches, and each niche can hold one to three cremation (ash) urns, depending on the size of the urn chosen.

“Installing these columbaria is a way to prepare for the future,” said Gloria Stanley, EUCA vice-president. “In California today, about 65% of people who have passed are being cremated. We wanted to make these niches available to the families in our local communities in order to provide people with several options.”

Due to the age and fairly small size of the cemetery, people are surprised to find there is still plenty of room for future burials.

 “There are still hundreds of spaces available for full-body burials, as well as for in-ground cremation,” noted Victoria Estrada, co-president. “Now that we have these beautiful, brand-new niches, we will also have above-ground room to accommodate people’s needs for many years into the future.”

Co-president Janice Zacharias remarked that the EUCA board is really pleased with the growth and progress of the cemetery over the last few years.

We have enhanced our baby area, added memorials and a fountain near the patio, planted many trees, and continue to work on updating our antique sprinkler system,” Zaharias said.

Zacharias is proud of the volunteers who continue to give their time to burials, landscaping, maintenance, and office work, noting that EUCA still has no paid staff.

According to Friends of EUCA president Janet Fiore, veterans have made a big difference in the operation of the cemetery.

“We have depended on our American Legion and VFW veterans to help with burials for years,” Fiore said. “We wanted to build a Veterans’ Memorial – to honor not just our volunteers, but the 475 military personnel who are interred here.”

The Veteran’s Memorial consists of black granite, with the five major branches of the services represented by both their flag and accompanying seal. The board was also able to preserve an existing veteran’s plaque, and incorporate it into the present memorial. One of the new columbaria towers will be reserved for veterans and their families, with the other four towers open to all.

The public is invited and welcome to come and view the new columbaria, the Veteran’s Memorial, and the general grounds.

The cemetery office is staffed Monday through Friday in the morning from 8 to11:30 a.m., though the grounds are open seven days a week during daylight hours.