St. Petersburg’s Historic Sunnyside Cemetery Expanding to Meet Community Demand for Permanent Memorialization

Community Leaders to Join Local Families to Break Ground on October 17

WHAT:

Community leaders and local families will join Sunnyside Cemetery and its partners at Anderson-McQueen Funeral

Home, Florida Mortuary and A Life Tribute Funeral Care to officially break ground on the expansion of the historic burial

ground. The event will include a special blessing, formal remarks, a preview of beautiful new forms of memorialization

and catered refreshments.

BACKGROUND:

As cremation continues to grow in popularity, more families are seeking meaningful and lasting ways to memorialize

their loved ones. Modern memorialization options now extend well beyond traditional burials, offering customized

arrangements for cremated remains and creative, personalized tributes. Established in 1895, Sunnyside Cemetery is one

of St. Petersburg’s oldest and most historic cemeteries. For the first time in decades, the cemetery is expanding to

include new spaces for both full casket burials and cremation inurnment. Among those interred at Sunnyside are Walter

John Hoxie and his daughter May Day, co-founders of the Girl Scouts of America.

The expansion will feature:

-Upright and flat monument ground spaces

-Custom family estates

-Multiple community columbaria

-A wide variety of cremation benches & posts

WHEN/WHERE:               

Friday, October 17, 10 – 11 AM

5300 19^th Street

North St. Petersburg, Florida 33714

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:             

-Pastor Rich Franz, Central Christian Church, St. Petersburg

-Chris Steinocher, President & CEO, St. Pete Chamber of Commerce

-Joel Colson, Regional Director-Cemetery Operations & Sales 

-Funeral directors and certified celebrants who can explain the latest options for celebrating lives

PHOTO/VIDEO OPPORTUNITIES:             

-Renderings of new designer hardscapes & landscaping

-Shovels in the ground

-Historic grave markers & private estates

-Peaceful open meadows, landscaped gardens & wooded glens

-Examples of the latest trends in cremation memorization