Oaklawn Memorial Gardens

“Reviews are something I rarely do, but I really want to shout out BIG gratitude to Rudy Rivera of Oaklawn Memorial Gardens in Winston-Salem, NC for his professional kindness and his going above and beyond to reassure us that all was well with our mother’s resting place and that she had NOT been dug up. He took his time with me looking up my mother’s grave plot and looking at photos of what our family had come upon the day before. Our family and a few neighbors and friends have been buried all over the place there for decades. Sadly, in 2006, my mother joined them. The communications I had with Oaklawn at the time I purchased her lot and prearranged her gravestone were very upsetting in 2005, and again in 2006 when she died, and again when they continued to send me letters to buy more plots addressed to my mother who had never lived at this address. A simple error, but one that took many calls in fresh grief to remedy. This past Sunday, when my sister and her granddaughter went to put Thanksgiving flowers on Mam’s and our other sister, two of her daughters, and Mother n’ law’s graves, they were shocked to tears to happen upon what looked like (but was mistaken) our Mother’s grave had been dug up and her vault cover was lying next to her gravesite beside a very large and deep hole dug where they thought she had lay was covered with plywood and had orange caution cones all over it. Immediately thoughts of WHERE’S MAMA?? arose and where have they taken her and why? You can imagine how much I was dreading calling Oaklawn after all these years. Even though it was right at 5pm on Monday when I called, Rudy answered the phone and proceeded to help me understand what had happened. It turns out, my Mama was lying in the other direction! All these years, we have put flowers on the four graves on the other side of the tree next to Mama, who faced away from the road, somehow, we got turned around, thinking Mama faced the same as the other four graves. Rudy stopped what he was doing and took the time to look at the photos I sent him and patiently explained that when you are standing at the foot of Mama’s gravestone with her name right-reading, that is where her feet are and that the flower vase side is facing where she is laying and confirmed my analogy that it’s like standing at the foot of a bed looking at a loved one laying there. It’s different with a headstone as that is usually where the head is, but it can vary from cemetery to cemetery. Rudy kept his promise to go photograph the gravesite of the person who had been buried that Monday morning and emailed it to me the very next day to show it had all been covered back up before we returned to place flowers. He also sent a photo of the gardens’ plot map with Mama’s plot and adjoining plots highlighted to show that the dug area was not even touching her place. I told him that he had fully reinstated my faith in Oaklawn Memorial Gardens and I would happily recommend him to anyone looking to find a resting place for their loved ones. It really is a peaceful place, and I feel safe going there as a woman, even when I am alone. My eldest sister used to hang windchimes, easter eggs, and various decoration on the tree in front of her daughter’s grave who died at age 18. The tree has long since grown too tall to do that, but it’s a precious memory and that’s what we all deserve to have in honoring our loved ones who leave before us. Those aren’t just slabs of marble, they’re all that’s left of entire families. Rudy gets that. Thank you, Rudy. May God bless you for healing a part of my heart that has held unnecessary hurt for 20 years. – TL Rader, Greensboro, NC, 11.19.2025”

— Terry Rader

“Shocked is what I'll say to start with. How could a place that assured people that this area would be taken care of when they made their arrangements, not care. My parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, along with my friends parents and family members, high school friends and their parents/grandparents are buried in this cemetery. I am now looking to find out more about who owns this and why they are not mowing and taking care of this cemetery? I create arrangements for my family, but for others too. I have spoken with several people that have family buried here and all agree this place is not important enough to stay up to standards in upkeep. Half of this cemetery was not mowed for the Easter Sunday Viewers. The front half closest to the highway was mowed, but that's it. Weed eating is not being done at all. Then the other 1/2 of the cemetery, most people can't see from the road, is not mowed nor trimmed around grave markers. Grass is up to 6 plus inches in various areas. Trash etc about is some areas. I and others contacted the office over a year ago about vases on graves damaged terribly. We were all told they would be taken care of as we gave names of the graves. None have been taken care of. Clean up of the graves is to be done by March 1st. This was not done and some floral arrangements are well over 2 years old. I went 3 days before Easter to do arrangements, picked up trash, pulled weeds around select graves markers etc. I spoke with several people out in the cemetery and they told me they have noticed the conditions of the cemetery are not very nice any longer. Now if you want to buy a spot, these people will take your money for that, but I can promise that is about the extent of it. There are many people that have no family members that visit the graves any longer so pretty sure this is leading to a lack of care about the conditions. That is shameful. At some point all people that are buried here paid for their resting place and felt secure knowing the place was beautiful and they chose the best cemetery around the area. My father would be just as shocked as I have been. Please if any of you read this, take the time to go out and take photos and call these people out of their lack of care for our loved ones final resting place. There is absolutely no excuse for their lack of care of this place when they know that so many pay their respects on Easter Sunday. Photos do not show the extent of the lack of care.”

— Sharon George

“I had the pleasure of working with Rudy who was Comforting during one of the most difficult times of my life and reassuring. Rudy took the time to explain things that were needed, and helped us every step of the way. Rudy is very compassionate and caring. Oaklawn Memorial is a very nice cemetery with great respect for their customers needs. Rudy went above and beyond to check I. With us before during and after my Dad was laid in his final resting place. I would highly recommend Oaklawn Gardens and especially the compassion and caring that Rudy showed and continues to show to his customers. Lisa Tolley”

— Lisa Tolley