In 1954, Rose Lawn Memory Gardens, located in Bethalto, Illinois, was created by Edmund Sr. and Ellen Mense. As you enter Roselawn, the first thing you will notice are the acres of flower, bouquets, trees, geese, ducks, and park benches. This cemetery is peaceful because of the lake with fountains, and statues throughout.
At its inception, Rose Lawn was created with a unique concept that everyone would have the same headstone so there would no be a difference due to their income or status in the community. All headstones are flat, made of bronze, and laid on a granite pad.
Rose Lawn features eight gardens, Living Christ, Devotion, Last Supper, Last Supper Addition, Gethsemane, Masonic, Christus, and Garden of the Good Sheppard. There are three mausoleums and one cremation niche unit called the Island of Memories located throughout the cemetery.
The cemetery staff takes pride in maintaining the cemetery grounds. They continually cut grass, trim trees, maintain the lake and roads, trim around markers, as well as remove all flowers and memorabilia for Christmas Blankets.
After the Christmas season, they remove all blankets so families or cemetery staff can once again place fresh flowers on their loved ones grave. Each season, the families or ground crew replaces the flowers with new spring, summer, fall, and winter flower bouquets or winter blankets on any marker where the family purchased the flower packages.
This provided service keeps Rose Lawn Memory Garden looking clean and fresh all year. Another reason why you will find local residents not only visiting their loved ones grave but enjoying a stroll through the park's winding roads. Families enjoy feeding the ducks, geese, and Shawn the Swan.
