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Veterans honor the fallen at the Memorial Day service at the Provo Cemetery on Monday, May 26, 2025.

Courtesy Provo City

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Ogden City Cemetery

Courtesy Ogden City

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Provo City Cemetery

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Ogden City Cemetery

Courtesy Ogden City

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History. Mourning. Reflection. Peace.

These are all aspects that are present in the beautiful cemeteries throughout Northern Utah and across the state.

The Memorial Day holiday is a time many visit these locations to remember family, friends and soldiers who paid the ultimate price — but how many of us truly appreciate the effort that goes into making our cemeteries places of refuge?

Two of the largest cemeteries in the state are in Ogden (more the 50,000 burials) and in Provo (approximately 33,000 burials and 24,000 headstones), and those two properties will certainly be very busy during the next week.

Matthew Brimhall, Provo City Cemetery sexton, and Monte Stewart, parks and cemetery division manager for Ogden, both view their responsibilities to care for the cemeteries as an important work for their communities.

“I look at it as the legacy of the people here,” Brimhall said. “It’s a perpetual record of yesterday and a sanctuary of peace and quiet today. Our cemetery exists because every every life is worth remembering and paying tribute to. There’s a lot of pride and memories that are carved into every headstone that pay tribute to the accomplishments of the life of those who have come before us. It continues to be a comfort for the living family members while historians seek information here. It continues to be a legacy to the people of Provo.”

Stewart agrees with the sentiment, saying that it plays a key role in being part of the city.

“I believe its purpose for our city is so we can show respect to those who have gone before us by doing the best job that we we can to make the space a place where people feel comfort,” Stewart said. “Somebody can come here and be able to reflect and remember their loved ones. It’s important for us as a community to be able to show respect and gratitude for those who have gone before us. That makes us a stronger community.”

Brimhall and Stewart work with their crews to make sure the cemeteries are in good condition, although that’s not easy.

“It’s a huge effort with, as you can imagine, trying to trim around 50,000 burials,” Stewart said. “It does take quite some time. Just to get through just mowing and trimming is a task in and of itself every week.”

Brimhall said it can take three or four weeks to get through the entire cemetery and then there are all the other landscaping demands of a facility that has grass, trees, shrubs and other plants.

Both cemeteries have had additional care prior to the Memorial Day weekend to ensure the visitors are able to enjoy their experience.

While the maintenance is certainly important, there have also been extensive efforts that have been made to ensure that people can find those who are buried throughout the cemetery.

“We received a grant that helped pay for us to make a GIS map that’s available to the public with QR codes,” Brimhall said. “We have signs posted throughout the cemetery. People can scan the QR code, type in the individual’s name, and it’ll take them right to the burial plot. If they take the coordinates and put them in their map, they can kind of see who’s around them. I think that has helped quite a bit, helped families be able to find their loved ones.”

In addition to the maps, both cemeteries will have individuals on hand during the holiday weekend to ensure that visitors can find what they are looking for.

“We encourage people, if they have questions, if they can’t find a grave, we have employees here who are to here to assist the residents and the visitors in finding their burial sites of their loved ones,” Stewart said.

Both Stewart and Brimhall want visitors coming to the cemeteries to expect them to be busy during Memorial Day weekend, especially with many locations having special programs (see info box). They also said there are rarely significant problems but they hope that people will be patient, particularly with the cleanup regulations that are in place to allow the cemeteries to resume with maintenance work following the holiday.

“In 2021, I had all the decorations we picked up after Memorial Day weighed and we collected more than 6.41 tons of decorations,” Brimhall said. “We leave flowers and decorations on the headstones for a week following Memorial Day, but then we collect them because we can’t mow with them in the way.”

He said that while some don’t understand the reasons behind the removal, most people are very grateful for the effort made by the city to keep the cemetery looking nice.

“Most people are appreciative and say, ‘Hey, you’re doing a great job. It looks really good,'” Brimhall said.

Everyone who works in the cemeteries appreciates that they are important places for visitors and said they hope those who come to see the final resting places of family and friends have a good experience.

“I hope that they’re able to find some time to contemplate those who have gone before them,” Steward said. “That’s really what I would hope. I think that’s what Memorial Day is for, to help us remember those who have gone before. We’ll do whatever we can to assist them in that.”

Brimhall added: “I would say to people that we hope they can find their loved ones and memorialize them, and if there is anything we can do we’ll try our best to help.”

Memorial Day Services in Northern Utah

• USA250 Gold Start Memorial Walk, Northern Box Elder County Veterans Memorial, Tremonton, May 23, 9 a.m. (tremontoncity.gov)
• Memorial Day Program, Syracuse City Memorial Park, May 25, 8 a.m. (syracuseut.gov)
• Memorial Day Program, Kaysville City Cemetery, May 25, 10 a.m. (kaysville.gov)
• Memorial Day Tribute, Deweyville Cemetery, May 25, 8 a.m. (deweyvilleut.gov)