- May 3, 2024
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Salvatore Passalaqua Jr., the funeral director for Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, and Alan Whetsell, the funeral home's retired general manager, cut the ribbon, opening the cemetery's new section. Photo by Sierra Williams.
Salvatore Passalaqua Jr., the funeral director for Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, and Alan Whetsell, the funeral home's retired general manager at the Flagler Estates ribbon cutting. Photo by Sierra Williams.
Flagler County Commissioner Andy Dance, center, and Flagler Beach City Commissioner Jane Mealy, right, at the Flagler Estates ribbon cutting ceremony. Photo by Sierra Williams.
Salvatore Passalaqua Jr., the funeral director for Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, gives the opening remarks to the Flagler Memorial Gardens ribbon cutting. Photo by Sierra Williams.
Salvatore Passalaqua Jr., the funeral director for Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, said the current cemetery sections are filling up and the expansion is necessary as the county grows. Photo by Sierra Williams.
Flagler-Palm Coast High School senior Alyssa sings the national anthem at the ribbon cutting. Photo by Sierra Williams.
Flagler-Palm Coast High School senior Alyssa sings the national anthem at the ribbon cutting. Photo by Sierra Williams.
Flagler Memorial Gardens cemetery has expanded for the first time in 100 years.
The cemetery was originally established in 1923 as Hope Cemetery and is the final resting place of many Flagler County families. On May 5, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held marking the addition of Flagler Estates, just one section of the six acres of the additional land.
Salvatore Passalaqua Jr., the funeral director for Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, said this cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in the county and the only perpetual care cemetery in the area.
“This new expansion will allow us to introduce more custom private family estates, with personalized burial and cremation options,” Passalaqua said.
The new Flagler Estates has 333 burial spaces, including 32 private hedged estates, 180 raised monument lots, 120 flat bronze lots, 72 free-standing columbariums for cremated remains and the first private, free-standing, walk-in mausoleum.
“Our county is growing,” Passalaqua said, “and as it grows, so are we to meet the needs of our Flagler County families.”
Our county is growing, and as it grows, so are we to meet the needs of our Flagler County families. — Salvatore Passalaqua Jr., funeral director for Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens
The original cemetery is land-locked, Passalaqua said, with private land bordering one side and the Old Kings Elementary School along the other. The land was first purchased in 2017, but development was delayed because of COVID-19 and a gopher tortoise found on the land.
“We were running out of ground space,” Passalaqua said. “And the only other way to go is to build up, you know, build mausoleums. But we also needed to expand the actual grounds in the cemetery, too.”
Allen Whetsell, who retired as Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home’s general manager in January, said this was a long time coming.
“This has been a vision of ours to expand in Flagler County for many years,” he said.
There are three other cemeteries in Flagler County, Whetsell said, but none are perpetual care cemeteries. Florida statutes require perpetual care cemeteries to have a care maintenance fund to maintain the cemetery for years to come, he said.
Whetsell said that Craig-Flagler had to bring in a cremation product because cremation rates in the county are somewhat high.
“People want to do something with the cremated remains rather than take them home and put them in a closet,” Whetsell said.
People want to do something with the cremated remains rather than take them home and put them in a closet. — Allen Whetsell, Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home’s retired general manager
The newly opened Flagler Estates encompasses just over two of the six acres. Passalaqua said the funeral home will develop more of the acreage once Flagler Estates begins to fill up.
“We have enough to last quite a while,” he said.
The funeral home is also undergoing a full renovation as well, Passalaqua said. The funeral home is adding a covered outdoor venue — complete with fireplace and ceiling fan — for families to be able to gather during or after services.
“We're renovating the funeral home so it's not the typical funeral home anymore,” Passalaqua said. “We're trying to make it more inviting — make it a little bit brighter, not darker, and more accommodating for families.”
Passalaqua said the funeral home is also expanding its services, now offering catering for services and life-story celebrations.
“We still do traditional funerals for those folks that are interested in that,” he said. “But we're also kind of doing some things that are out of the box.”
Whetsell said the expansion is a fulfillment of his dream when he came to the county 22 years ago. He said the expansion will serve not just the current residents but the ones who move to Flagler County permanently.
“The county’s going to do nothing but continue to grow,” Whetsell said. “As it continues to grow, there'll be more people putting their roots full time in the year. … This becomes home.”
