GENERAL INFORMATION
To schedule a burial: Fax all discharge documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 and follow-up with a phone call to
1-800-535-1117.
Any eligible person may be interred at any national cemetery that has available grave space.
The new 544-acre national cemetery will serve veterans’ needs for the next 50 years. Holly is approximately 50 miles northwest of downtown Detroit.
Burials began on October 17, 2005. Initial operations will be conducted from a temporary office, committal service shelter and equipment building.
The URS Corporation, in a joint venture with the LA Group was selected to produce the master planning and design documents.
VA prepared an Environmental Assessment for the Oakland County site in October 2001. In September 2002, the Department of Veterans Affairs purchased the site from the Fagan Lake Development Corporation. The previous owner, the Horton family, had held the property for over 160 years.
This new cemetery to serve veterans in the greater Detroit metropolitan area is the second national cemetery in Michigan. Michigan's other national cemetery is Ft. Custer.
back to top
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Great Lakes National Cemetery is the second national cemetery built in Michigan and the 122nd in the national cemetery system.
Great Lakes National Cemetery is located approximately 50 miles northwest of downtown Detroit, in Holly Township, Oakland County. The cemetery borders Fagan Lake, and is located on a portion of a land grant from the Federal Government to Terrance Fagan in 1836. Historically, the property served as farmland until it was acquired by the National Cemetery Administration in 2002.
In the 20th century, the property was purchased by Bryson Dexter Horton, a Spanish-American War veteran-turned-industrialist who invented the “Square D” switch. Horton's invention dramatically improved electrical safety, by encasing the switch in steel and protecting users from the live electrical current. Mr. Horton constructed a small house on the property in 1927, and reportedly entertained such preeminent locals as Henry and Edsel Ford, who both hunted and fished there.
Great Lakes National Cemetery was established in 2005, and the first burial took place on October 17 of that year.
back to top
NOTABLE PERSONS
Under Development
back to top
FLORAL/GROUNDS REGULATIONS
We welcome and encourage fresh-cut flowers throughout the year and provide flower containers for gravesite display. Cemetery visitors are free to use the containers located in receptacles placed throughout the cemetery. Once the blooms are spent or damaged by weather, they are removed. They may also be removed for routine mowing or other maintenance.
Artificial flower are only allowed after the end of mowing operations in the fall on October 15 and must be removed when mowing operations resume in the spring beginning the first week of March.
On Easter and Memorial Day, potted plants and artificial flowers may be placed on gravesite 10 days before through 10 days following the holiday. During the holiday season, from December 1 through January 20, seasonal floral items and gravesite blankets, no larger than two feet by three feet, may be placed on gravesites.
To maintain the dignity of the cemetery, commemorative items, balloons, pinwheels, glass items, votive lights, statues, shepherd’s hooks and permanent plantings, among other items, are not allowed.
No item or object may be attached to a headstone or marker in a national cemetery. Animals may eat fresh flowers and arrangements.
back to top
|
