Idlewilde Cemetery
The beginning of Idlewilde Fraternal Cemetery Association, located at the corner of Brookside Drive and Tucker Road, was officially organized March 26, 1895. We have burials that occurred prior to its organization that date back to 1877. This small sacred area of land was a community burial place on the outskirts of Hood River prior to the cemetery’s beginning.
In the beginning, three lodges represented Idlewilde Cemetery Association. They were Hood River Masonic Lodge #105 A.F. & A.M., Idlewilde Lodge I.O.O.F. Odd Fellows and Woodman of the World Lodge #68 A.O.U.W. The Odd Fellows and Woodman Lodges relinquished their rights and the Masonic Lodge became sole proprietor of Idlewilde Cemetery and the Lodge supplies four board members to oversee the everyday happening and operations of Idlewilde Cemetery.
We started off as five acres and over the years have grown to over 18 acres with five acres still in orchard production to financially help with the ongoing operation expenses of the cemetery. We have removed the Bosc pears, which have up-and-down market prices and now grow only Bartlett pears, which have a steady market price.
As of today, we have over 8,000 body burials at Idlewilde and over 2,000 ash placements. Our mausoleum and niches are at 60% capacity. At Idlewilde, we still hand dig the graves. It helps when you have straight sand for soil. If our digger, Agustin Lara finds a rock, we are charged extra. (No rocks.) Agustin is a 25-year employee with Idlewilde and can still dig a grave in a little over an hour’s time. We operate here at Idlewilde with only the one part-time employee, three hours a day, and myself.
We are 100% irrigated, with a pressurized system furnished by the Irrigation District. We irrigate 24/7 when the irrigation season stars and we pump over 100 gallons a minute. Our two outstanding programs each year are Memorial Day and then in September we have Cemetery Tales, which is a large fundraiser for the local Historical Museum Society’s educational programs. Cemetery Tales has become so popular that the tickets have to be purchased early, and then sometimes they’re already sold out.
We have over 2,700 vacant graves in the new portion of the cemetery and over 1,000 graves in the old section at this time. The orchard portion of the cemetery was plotted back in 1973, which will be to our advantage when the time comes to remove the orchard and sell graves. We enjoy the beauty of the Hood River Valley on a daily basis. When you’re at our facility, look south and you can see Mt. Hood before you look north and see Mt. Adams in the state of Washington. Come to Hood River and visit us; enjoy our views, our wine, our fruits, our clean, fresh air, lots of summer and fall activities, and oh, did I mention we border Indian Creek Golf Course?
–Bob Huskey, Sexton/Manager, Idlewilde Cemetery
980 Tucker Road, Hood River, Oregon
In the beginning, three lodges represented Idlewilde Cemetery Association. They were Hood River Masonic Lodge #105 A.F. & A.M., Idlewilde Lodge I.O.O.F. Odd Fellows and Woodman of the World Lodge #68 A.O.U.W. The Odd Fellows and Woodman Lodges relinquished their rights and the Masonic Lodge became sole proprietor of Idlewilde Cemetery and the Lodge supplies four board members to oversee the everyday happening and operations of Idlewilde Cemetery.
We started off as five acres and over the years have grown to over 18 acres with five acres still in orchard production to financially help with the ongoing operation expenses of the cemetery. We have removed the Bosc pears, which have up-and-down market prices and now grow only Bartlett pears, which have a steady market price.
As of today, we have over 8,000 body burials at Idlewilde and over 2,000 ash placements. Our mausoleum and niches are at 60% capacity. At Idlewilde, we still hand dig the graves. It helps when you have straight sand for soil. If our digger, Agustin Lara finds a rock, we are charged extra. (No rocks.) Agustin is a 25-year employee with Idlewilde and can still dig a grave in a little over an hour’s time. We operate here at Idlewilde with only the one part-time employee, three hours a day, and myself.
We are 100% irrigated, with a pressurized system furnished by the Irrigation District. We irrigate 24/7 when the irrigation season stars and we pump over 100 gallons a minute. Our two outstanding programs each year are Memorial Day and then in September we have Cemetery Tales, which is a large fundraiser for the local Historical Museum Society’s educational programs. Cemetery Tales has become so popular that the tickets have to be purchased early, and then sometimes they’re already sold out.
We have over 2,700 vacant graves in the new portion of the cemetery and over 1,000 graves in the old section at this time. The orchard portion of the cemetery was plotted back in 1973, which will be to our advantage when the time comes to remove the orchard and sell graves. We enjoy the beauty of the Hood River Valley on a daily basis. When you’re at our facility, look south and you can see Mt. Hood before you look north and see Mt. Adams in the state of Washington. Come to Hood River and visit us; enjoy our views, our wine, our fruits, our clean, fresh air, lots of summer and fall activities, and oh, did I mention we border Indian Creek Golf Course?
–Bob Huskey, Sexton/Manager, Idlewilde Cemetery
980 Tucker Road, Hood River, Oregon
