While this is not the most exciting of cemeteries on the face of the earth, it does have it's…read morehistoric interest. This is largely a sadly maintained, forgotten stretch of land with a dusty road daring to lead the not-so-weak-at-heart in. Many of the older headstones need serious TLC. But on the other hand, who wants to go into a historic area and see everything sparkling as if it is brand new? Well, for those of you who say, "Right on!", this is the place for you. This is actually the 2nd cemetery for the California gold town of Sonora. For some unknown reason, the 1st cemetery no longer exists. Historic records indicate that those bodies were disinterred and moved to this "new" cemetery sometime in the late 1800's. The headstones whisper names of early, forgotten residents, going back to around the 1870's. I immediately noticed the name Bradford, a large family plot right in the middle of the cemetery. Samuel S Bradford has a street named after him, and it runs through the middle of old, historic Sonora. That's because he was a very prominent citizen who ran a very successful lumber business in this area, one of the original founders. Others that at first may not have obvious significance until you ponder more, are the many Chinese surnames: the cooks at the camps, those who ran the laundries, peddled vegetables, ran the gambling and opium dens, and those who dared to (secretly) try their luck at gold mining. You can find interesting listings, some complete with pictures of headstones and a brief paragraph of their life or demise, of all those interred at this cemetery at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GScid=589992 This link provides some interesting family ancestry information for those who are interested. Sonora also has a large Genealogical Society Research Library.

What a find! Ran in to this historical cemetery by accident and spent the next 45 min walking…read morearound checking the old headstones and taking in the fresh Sonora air. I wish I would of had more time to explore this place.

Kind, caring, professional, helpful - Darren (and the whole team) at Angels Memorial Chapel were…read morejust so wonderful to work with during a difficult time. The arrangements for my mom were managed with care and efficiency. I was surprised how quickly the process flowed especially as this was being done during the week of Christmas. Your support during this time was lovely. Thank you so much.

Diebold Funeral Home made a difficult time so much easier for our family. Darren, Kevin, and…read moreSamantha were compassionate, professional, and handled every detail of my mother's funeral with care and respect. Their guidance and genuine kindness meant so much to us throughout the planning and service. I'm truly grateful for everything they did and highly recommend them.

When I suddenly had to make my beloved mother's funeral arrangements from out of state, Felisha and…read morethe entire staff at Franklin & Downs Funeral Home, provided exceptional service. They were compassionate, professional, and supportive during such a difficult time. Felisha did an outstanding job guiding me through every step of the process. She ensured that every detail was handled smoothly, and with care. My mother's services were beautiful, and we are sincerely grateful for the kindness, and dedication shown by all of the staff. I highly recommend Felisha and this funeral home.

Franklin & Downs will always have a special place in our hearts. As we walked in, with no…read moreappointment and in a panic because the original mortuary that picked up my Grandmother was a disaster, Felisha took us in and calmly walked us through a process to get my Grandmother's remains transferred to Franklin, and made it happen same day. There was a bit of a dynamic going on, as everyone was distraught leaving the previous mortuary, but Felisha handled it with grace. After getting arrangements finalized, our pastor cancelled at the last minute, and Franklin & Downs arranged to assist us DAY OF. This funeral saved us from start to finish and my family cannot thank them enough for their professionalism and solid execution.

Mathew is an excellent associate. Very knowledgeable about his job and professional. He took care…read moreof everything concerning my Uncle. He was very polite and caring in our conversations. Keep up the good work and keep him on the payroll. Thank you Allen Mortuary

They were very compassionate and walked us through everything that needed to be handled during this…read morehard time.

Tina has been extraordinarily helpful in the process of selecting locations, setting up the…read moreservices and designing the memorial plaques. There are so many options available and we are very pleased with what we ultimately chose. I felt that the pricing options were competitive with other options. The day of service and urn placement was very emotional, and the staff was so kind and compassionate. I felt very cared for.

Nothing but that's to be expected after all look at where your at…read more I bought a plot there several years ago when my husband passed a few years ago I told them I was not going to use them so when I bought them they told me that the company would buy them back for the price o paid but when I went to do that they told me they would not do that I was a bit miffed so now I have 2 garden crypts that I need to sale no problem just frustrating

The process of purchasing a headstone is a stressful task. However, JonLuke and Amber were…read moreprofessional and very supportive. I went to a total of 3 locations in San Joaquin. I've done the work for you! Don't bother with the other locations. Thank You, both

OUTSTANDING SERVICE! Forever in Stone did an amazing job with my parents headstone. The entire…read moreprocess from beginning to end was such a smooth process especially because I live in Yuba County, almost a 2 1/2 hr drive. I initially went in to start the process with Jon, explained everything that we wanted and the deadline we needed the headstone by, the rest of my communication with Jon was thru text messages and by phone sometimes if more clarification was needed when we were designing the headstone, adding this and that or removing something, all done by text message and Jon was very patient thru the whole process because every detail creating our headstone had to go thru approval from me to all my siblings. There was no limitation to what they couldn't do. Jon also very knowledgeable about the type of headstone he would recommend due to the hard water in Central Valley cemeteries, he wanted us to have what was best for years to come that will last and not fade away in a year or less. The actual day we went to see the actual headstone, just blew us away, the back of my parents headstone was breathtaking! The images of my parents matched the picture to a tee! We just had the unveiling of the headstone and the 1 year memorial celebration for my parents and the compliments that we received from everyone in attendance saying how beautiful it was, some had never seen that type of design and everyone took pictures with their families posing at the front and back of my parents headstones. The pricing was affordable as well for a double headstone. If you are looking for headstone for a loved one, I highly recommend Forever In Stone, they will make it happen for you and the outcome will be incredibly beautiful! Thank you Forever In Stone for creating the last gift we gave to our parents.

Amazing place, excellent people, service is overrated and very family oriented people. At time of…read moregrief, they made us feel our beloved friend Imelda Sia very special.

The kindness they showed us during our difficult time made things easier…read more They kept in contact with us step by step.

Weird to be leaving a review for a funeral home. But mom has been here for 26 years now,…read moreunfortunately... Anyways.. any time I come to visit the area seems well taken care of. Now that my brother and I are a lot older we would like to change the name on mom's headstone. We asked the staff but sadly it's still "owned" by the step father. We would need him to release his rights to it, and sadly that day may never come. We really hope it does.

Wanna give Michelle a shout out she did an awesome job helping my family get everything taken care…read moreof when we need them the most. Thank You Again the Crawford Family