Where can I find records of cemeterys?

Question

I'm looking for my fathers grave but I don't know where he is buried. I just know it's in phoenix Arizona. I tried contacting all the cemetery's there but they never give me info. can someone help me?

Answer 1

Actually, the county clerk does handle deed records in some localities. I live in Texas and they are at the county clerks office here. It is kind of like the assessors office in some localities handles the values of real estate, but here they are called Appraisal Districts. Its just different lingo in different parts of the country.

There are a couple of websites on the web that are growing by leaps and bounds that handle cemetery records. The records are added by volunteers so it just keeps growing every day. They are

http://www.findagrave.com/
http://www.interment.net/
http://www.obitcentral.com/cemsearch/az-cem.htm

You can look up cemeteries by locality. Maybe there are a couple you might have overlooked. Remember, just because they aren't on find a grave or interment.net doesn't mean they aren't buried there.

What I would do if I were you is one of three things.

1) If your father died before 1955, you can go to the death certificate site at
http://genealogy.az.gov/
This site allows you to pull up and actual copy of the death certificate for Arizona only. It should say on there if he died in Arizona prior to 1955.

2) If he died after 1955 and you know his date of death (which you most likely know) click here

http://www.raogk.com/arizona.htm

Phoenix is in Maricopa County, Arizona. This is the site for Random Acts of genealogical kindness. There are volunteers on this site that will look up obituaries or public records. Some will do it for free, others will do it for gas money and postage. Keep in mind that this site is run strictly with volunteers who are willing to give up their time to help a fellow friend or genealogist. Make sure that you thank them for their time. It these volunteers are used and abused, they will not be there the next time you need them. Only ask the volunteers for things that they've volunteered to do.

3) Try to write to the Phoenix genealogical society. Their website address is

http://www.phxgensoc.com/

Many genealogical societies will do lookups for a small contribution. (Normally 5 bucks will do so that they can further their cause of preserving local history for you and me) I have had a lot of success with genealogical societies in the past. Many of them even compile cemetery listings with all of the known burials in the cemetery.

My final suggestion is going to the following website:

http://genforum.genealogy.com/az/maricopa/

This is a message board for Maricopa County Arizona. The audience for this board are pretty much only people that have an interest in genealogy within the county. I would post the name, birth and death date of your father and explain that you would like to find out where he is buried. I have had a lot of success with this board in the past. When someone posts a response, you will be e-mailed.

These are all pretty low cost or free ways of finding the information you are looking for. If I can help you further, please feel free to E-mail me through my profile. Blessings and good luck

Answer 2

My first question would be whether or not you have the DATE of his death (social security death index). He may have died in Arizona, but sometimes people die when on a trip, or in hospitals in adjoining states. If he did die in an alternate location, that is where his death certificate should be filed. Assuming your birth cert. proves that he is your father, you should have legal rights to a copy of the death certificate (many states do restrict who can order them).
Two other things to consider- many people are NOT buried where they last lived, contrary to opinion. Sometimes they are moved back to where other family, such as parents, are buried. And it may not be true for you... but more and more people are opting for cremation.
Place of burial and/or mortuary are what will show up on the death certificate. My first call or letter would be to the mortuary.
Many county genweb sites are working to survey all cemeteries in their area, but it is a bigger job than most people realize. You can always check there, to see first if he is listed. Another feature on many of the county web pages is a search box...it will pull up all entries of a surname on the site. Maybe they don't have the cemeteries done, but they could have his obit.
It's findable with a bit of digging.. pardon the intended pun.

Answer 3

Go to http://www.usgenweb.net/az

This will take you to the Arizona genealogical website. Look there to see if the state compiles such records (usually the cemetery is listed on the death record). If not, go to the county where Phoenix is located. See if they list cemeteries there. If not, post a query--very likely someone there will help you.

Answer 4

If a funeral home handled his burial, call them and they can give you all of the information you need. Otherwise, you can call the County Clerk's office and ask them to pull up his death records and give you the information.

BTW, the Registrar of Deeds handles property records. The County Clerk handles birth, marriage and death records.

Answer 5

Cemeteries have records of who is buried in them, I don't understand why they wouldn't give you the info- do you have his full name, and date of death?

Answer 6

Hey Mexican,

There are the usual places as mentioned, and there are the cyber space places too. Cindi's list gives excellent cemetary sources. Here are some otheres too.

Answer 7

TRY YOUR LOCATE LIBRARY FOR COUNTY RECORD ON GRAVEYARDS. SOME CHURCHES KEEP RECORDS ON WHO IS BURIED THERE. FIND A COUNTY HISTORIAN IN YOUR AREA.

Answer 8

LOCAL COURT HOUSE THERE SHOULD HAVE A RECORD--PROB CALLED THE REGISTER OF DEEDS OR VITAL STATICS.

Answer 9

You can also try browsing at http://www.interment.net/Default.htm

Good luck!