How Cemetery Services Are Organised Across Alaska's Boroughs

Alaska has no counties. The state is divided into organized boroughs, the Municipality of Anchorage, and a vast Unorganized Borough that the Census Bureau splits into census areas. Our directory groups listings under familiar county-style pages so you can browse by area. The body that actually runs a burial ground may be a city, a borough, a tribal council, a church or a private company. Finding out which one applies saves a lot of phone calls.

This directory lists 13 cemeteries in eight cities, from Anchorage and Fairbanks to Homer, Kodiak, Sitka and Juneau. That is a modest number for the largest state in the country, and geography explains much of it. Most Alaska communities are off the road system. Many village burial grounds are family, church or tribal sites that never appear in a commercial listing.

No single state office runs cemeteries. Several bodies each handle one part of the process:

Private memorial parks and funeral-home cemeteries sit on top of this system. They set their own prices and policies. Federal rules require funeral homes to give you an itemized price list, and a reputable cemetery will put its own fees in writing too.

The best first call is to the cemetery itself or to a local funeral home. Ask who owns the ground, whether space is available, what paperwork they need, and how much notice they require.

Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska: Where Most Cemetery Listings Cluster

Anchorage is the state's largest city and accounts for four of our listings. Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, at 535 East 9th Avenue, is near downtown and answers at 907-343-6814. Angelus Memorial Park Cemetery, at 440 East Klatt Road, can be reached at 907-344-1311. Fort Richardson National Cemetery, on Davis Highway, completes the group. You will find all of them on the Anchorage Municipality County page.

North of Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough has Palmer Valley Memorial Park Cemetery on Old Glenn Highway (907-745-6655) and Wasilla Aurora Cemetery at 1096 Wasilla-Fishhook Road (907-373-9090). The Mat-Su valley has grown quickly as commuters moved north. Families there often weigh local options against those in Anchorage, roughly an hour's drive away. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough County page lists both.

Farther south, Hickerson Memorial Cemetery in Homer (907-235-8121) represents the Kenai Peninsula County area in our directory. Homer sits near the end of the Sterling Highway, so other sizable towns are an hour or more away. Call before you drive out, because small-town cemeteries often have no staffed office at the gate.

Southcentral winters are milder than the Interior's, but frost still affects grave preparation from late fall into spring. If a death happens in winter, ask the funeral home how the weather could change the date of a graveside service.

Interior, Island and Southeast Alaska: Frozen Ground and Long Distances

Fairbanks and the Interior

Fairbanks has two listings. Northern Lights Memorial Park Funeral Home & Crematory Cemetery, at 2318 Yankovich Road, is reached at 907-479-2545 and combines funeral, cremation and burial services in one operation. Clay Street Cemetery, on 7th Avenue, is an older burial ground. Our database has no phone number for it, so check with local government offices before planning a visit or a burial. Both appear on the Fairbanks North Star County page.

Deep winter cold matters more here than anywhere else in the state. Frozen ground can delay in-ground burial or require crews to thaw the soil first, which adds time and cost. Many Fairbanks-area families choose cremation and hold the interment in late spring or summer. Ask early what the cemetery can do between roughly November and April.

Kodiak Island

Kodiak's two listings, Kodiak Russian Cemetery and Old American Cemetery, are both on Mill Bay Road and share the phone number 907-486-8636. Kodiak was an early Russian settlement, and Russian Orthodox traditions still shape local burial customs and the look of older graves, including Orthodox crosses. Island families should also remember that people and supplies arrive by air or ferry, so out-of-town relatives need extra lead time. See the Kodiak Island County page for both.

Juneau and Sitka

Juneau Evergreen Cemetery, at 601 Seater Street (907-364-2828), and Sitka National Cemetery, at 803 Sawmill Creek Road (907-747-3913), serve Southeast Alaska. Neither city is connected by road to the rest of the continent. Moving a body in or out normally means air cargo or an Alaska Marine Highway ferry, and the funeral home arranges it. Plan for weather delays on both routes.

Villages off the road system

Most of Alaska's land area has no listing here, because burial grounds in small communities are managed informally. Many are cared for by tribal councils, village corporations, Russian Orthodox or other churches, or families. Under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, certain cemetery sites and historical places were identified for Native ownership, with the Bureau of Land Management handling those claims. If you are looking for a village grave, start with the tribal office or the church rather than a directory listing.

Veterans Burial at Fort Richardson and Sitka National Cemeteries

Alaska's two national cemeteries are run by the VA's National Cemetery Administration. Fort Richardson National Cemetery is at 58-512 Davis Highway in Anchorage, and Sitka National Cemetery is at 803 Sawmill Creek Road. The numbers are 907-384-7075 for Fort Richardson and 907-747-3913 for Sitka.

Eligibility generally covers veterans who served on active duty and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, along with their spouses and eligible dependent children. Burial in a national cemetery includes the grave, opening and closing, a government headstone or marker, and perpetual care at no charge to the family.

The VA also offers pre-need eligibility reviews. These let a veteran confirm eligibility in advance and spare relatives that task during a crisis. Space and interment options can change, so ask each cemetery what is currently available.

Fort Richardson National Cemetery appears twice in our listings, under slightly different names and addresses. Both entries share a phone number and point to the same cemetery.

What to have ready before you call

Government cemeteries in Alaska include facilities administered by the VA's National Cemetery Administration, state veterans cemeteries funded through state and federal partnerships, and local municipal and county cemeteries operated by city and county governments throughout the state.

Cemetery locations are available in 8 cities across Alaska. They are spread across 7 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration include Anchorage, Kodiak, Fairbanks, where established municipal cemeteries have served their communities for generations and maintain extensive historical burial records.

Veterans in Alaska may be eligible for burial in a state veterans cemetery at little or no cost. Contact the Alaska Department of Veterans Affairs or Veterans Services to confirm eligibility requirements and available state-operated facilities.

Cemetery by Counties

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Families and genealogists in Alaska can often request burial records from municipal cemetery offices or search online databases maintained by state archives and historical societies. Many Alaska counties have digitized older cemetery records that are available through county clerk or public library genealogy collections.

Browse Cemetery by county across Alaska to find the nearest location.

Researching Graves and Planning Ahead in Alaska

Families searching for an older grave in Alaska often hit gaps. Early records were kept by churches, fraternal groups and small-town clerks, and not all of those papers survive. The best approach is to call the cemetery directly using the numbers in our listings. Then ask the borough or city clerk, a local historical society, or the parish office of the church tied to the cemetery. Photographs of headstones, obituary clippings and approximate death dates narrow the search considerably.

If you need a death certificate, request it from the state's vital records office. Certified copies are typically limited to people with a direct interest, such as close family, so be ready to show your relationship. For a recent death, the funeral home usually orders the first copies on your behalf.

Planning ahead helps most in Alaska because distance and weather can squeeze your timeline. Decide between burial and cremation, pick a cemetery, and write down where documents are kept. Veterans should request the VA eligibility review early. Families in Southeast Alaska can start with the Juneau City and Borough County page, which includes Juneau Evergreen Cemetery on Seater Street. Compare at least two providers when you can, and keep every quote in writing.

Cemetery Questions Alaska Families Ask

Alaska does not have one agency that oversees every cemetery. Public cemeteries are generally run by cities, boroughs or the Municipality of Anchorage, and each sets its own rules for lots, burial depth, markers and fees. Private memorial parks, such as Angelus Memorial Park in Anchorage or Palmer Valley Memorial Park, operate under their own policies and general consumer protection law. The Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development licenses funeral directors and embalmers, and the Health Analytics and Vital Records Section registers deaths. Veterans cemeteries answer to the federal VA. For any specific question, start with the cemetery's own office.

Veterans who served on active duty and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable are generally eligible, as are their spouses and eligible dependent children. Burial in a national cemetery carries no charge for the grave, opening and closing, a government headstone or marker, and perpetual care. Families may still pay a funeral home for services, transport and the casket or urn. Bring the DD-214 or equivalent discharge papers when you call. Fort Richardson National Cemetery answers at 907-384-7075 and Sitka National Cemetery at 907-747-3913. Ask each one what interment options are currently available, since availability can change over time.

Sometimes, but expect delays or extra cost. Interior ground freezes hard in winter, and crews may need to thaw the soil before digging, or the burial may wait until spring. Many Fairbanks-area families hold a memorial service right away and schedule interment of cremated remains later, when the ground softens. Northern Lights Memorial Park Funeral Home & Crematory Cemetery on Yankovich Road (907-479-2545) can explain its own winter procedures. Ask whether thawing carries an added charge, how long a delay is likely, and whether the remains can be held safely in the meantime. Getting those answers in writing prevents surprises.

Some rural families do, but the answer depends on where the land is. Borough or city zoning, platting rules, subdivision covenants and water-supply setbacks may all apply, and the death must still be registered through the proper channels. Contact your borough or city planning office before anyone digs. Record the exact burial location in your property records so future owners know it exists. Land held under a Native allotment or by a village corporation may carry additional rules, so check with the landowner. If a historic or unmarked grave turns up on state land, the Office of History and Archaeology is the contact.

Usually through a regional hub. A funeral home in a larger city such as Anchorage, Fairbanks or Juneau often prepares the remains and arranges air cargo or, on the coast, a ferry. If the burial will be in the home village, confirm in advance who controls the local cemetery, since that may be a tribal council, a church or a village corporation. Ask who can authorize a plot and who digs the grave. Allow extra days for weather and flight schedules, and ask the funeral home for a written timeline so relatives can plan their own travel.

Public data sources sometimes record one burial ground under more than one name. Fort Richardson National Cemetery appears with and without the VA name, using the same number, 907-384-7075. Kodiak Russian Cemetery and Old American Cemetery both sit on Mill Bay Road and use 907-486-8636, which suggests one office handles both. The Sitka City and Borough County page, by contrast, holds a single national cemetery. Clay Street Cemetery in Fairbanks has no phone number on file. Treat each listing as a starting point, and confirm the address and hours by phone before you travel.