Skip to content

Cemeteries

Oakdale Cemetery

Give your departed loved one a beautiful burial and resting place at Adel’s Oakdale Cemetery. We have daily visiting hours for those who wish to visit a friend or family member’s grave.

If you’d like to memorialize someone who has passed away, the City also allows the planting of memorial trees in designated city parks and green spaces.

For more details about Oakdale Cemetery’s rules and regulations, please read the information below.

If you ever have after-hours issues or concerns regarding a burial, please contact Kip Overton at (515) 490-7430. For inquiries (including flowers) during regular business hours, please call the Adel City Hall at (515) 993-4525.

Cemetery Fees

As fees periodically change, please refer to the City’s latest Fee Schedule or contact Adel City Hall to confirm.

Cemetery Policies and Procedures

Please click here to download the Oakdale Cemetery Regulations, which are also listed below.

Hours

The Cemetery hours are as follows:

  • 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., April through October.
  • 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., November through March.

Burial, headstone, and cemetery policies

The City is not responsible for lost or stolen decorations. Items not in compliance may be removed by City staff.

  • City Hall must be informed of all burials. Preparation and closure of any burial sites must be performed by City staff unless permission is received in writing.
  • Graves may be decorated between November 15 and March 1, and from the Friday before the observance of Memorial Day until the Monday following Memorial Day of each year. Urns that are a part of the headstones may be decorated at any time.
  • Approved decorations include live and artificial flowers and wreaths, flags, and holiday decorations, and must be in-line with the headstones.
  • In consultation with City staff, the American Legion may be approved to make improvements to the concrete around certain gravestones to use for the Legion’s markers.
  • Annuals and perennials may be planted adjacent to, and in-line with, the stone if tended by the lot owner. No other sod displacement will be allowed.
  • Permanent plantings (trees, bushes, etc.) must be approved by the Park Board.
  • No glass or metal containers, planters, or ornaments are allowed for any purpose.
  • All headstones must be placed in line with existing headstones. In the absence of adjacent stones, headstones must be placed at the head of grave at the end of the cemetery space.
  • All foot stones and commemorative plaques must be mounted flush with the ground.
  • No dogs allowed.
  • No fishing from the cemetery.

Memorial Planting Policies

Please refer to this document for all memorial tree planting policies.

The City of Adel will approve the planting of trees, shrubs, bushes, or flowers in designated city parks and green spaces for the purpose of serving as a living memorial or honorarium for someone provided the species of trees, shrubs, bushes, or flowers meet the guidelines of the approved and accepted species list as designated in the City of Adel Ordinance Chapter 151 “Trees.”

Special considerations

  • The trees, shrubs, bushes, or flowers must be planted by the resident(s).
  • The City will assume no responsibility for the health of the trees, shrubs, bushes, or flowers, including initial watering during the critical first year of life.
  • The City will maintain the trees, shrubs, bushes, or flowers after the first year of life in the regular course of routine maintenance as is part of standard practice with care and treatment of existing foliage.
  • The City’s boards, commission, or administrator may not approve a planting if it is deemed inappropriate for the area suggested or if there appears to be excessive maintenance and care required during the life of the planting.
  • Any recognition of the planting designating it as a memorial or honorarium shall have the approval of the City’s boards, commission, or administrator.
  • Plaques, engraved rocks, or other methods used to recognize the planting are not permitted next to or around the planting. All recognition mementos must be attached to a central location provided and maintained by the City of Adel.

    Photo Credits: Jessica Detlefsen