Riverside National Cemetery Columbarium Accepting Cremated Remains of Veterans

Riverside National Cemetery Director Dean Moline has announced that the cemetery’s newest columbarium has begun accepting the cremated remains of Veterans and their loved ones as of Aug. 24. The cemetery sent a notification letter to each of the more than 550 families that have been impacted by contract and construction delays. In addition, cemetery personnel are busy making follow-up calls to families to schedule burials. “Our desire is to complete these long-delayed inurnments in a timely yet dignified manner,” said Moline. While the cemetery works through the backlog, it will immediately begin placing new burials in the columbarium. During the time that the new columbarium was being built, RNC continued to bury cremated remains in one of its many in-ground cremation burial sections. Last year, RNC committed the remains of 8,119 Veterans and their loved ones to their final resting places. Of those, 3,853 were cremations. Unlike the columbarium that is commonly referred to as The Wall, which stretches for nearly a quarter-mile along Van Buren Boulevard, the new columbarium is built in a courtyard style similar to RNC’s two older columbaria. Located next to the cemetery’s west gate on Air Force Village West Drive, it contains 19 courtyards and 10,272 niches. Each 11¾″ by 9½″ by 18¼″ niche can accommodate two cremation urns, giving the new columbarium a potential capacity for 20,544 urns. Moline said that he believes that the plan that his staff is executing should have the cremation backlog cleared within the next few months. “We are making the calls,” he said, “and will schedule the services as quickly as the families get back to us. We regret any distress the delays have caused these families and only wish to work with them to help them achieve closure.” Opened on Veterans Day 1978, Riverside National Cemetery is the third largest of the 131 cemeteries managed by the National Cemetery Administration of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. RNC averages 35 services a day, Monday through Friday.