Elmwood Family of Cemeteries

Message from Sandy McMillan, president Trustees of Elmwood Cemetery

Dear Friends and Families,

As Elmwood Cemetery celebrates its 170th anniversary, we have been honored to work with you, our staff, and advisors as we thoughtfully lead Elmwood in the 21st century. We have regularly updated the cemetery’s master plan to provide a deliberate approach in managing the cemetery’s assets and in projecting burial capacity into the future. Elmwood Cemetery’s future is bright!
We started the Historic Elmwood Foundation in 2004 to enhance the continued restoration of the cemetery grounds and buildings and to welcome more people to Elmwood through our community events and educational programs. Our goals were simple:

• The events would introduce more of the metro Detroit community to Elmwood.
• The foundation would be able to receive donations from not only Elmwood friends and families, but also seek donations from other foundations and corporations.
• These donations would grow to insure continued restoration and would provide a community purpose as burial space at Elmwood decreases.

Elmwood has always been a vital piece of Detroit’s history and the trustees desire to have that continue. Our staff is hardworking and customer focused and they share best practices with others. This opened a new door for Elmwood in 2014 when we were approached by historic Glenwood Cemetery about how we might assist the Glenwood Trustees in the operation and management of Glenwood. Utilizing our knowledgeable and hard-working staff, we entered into an agreement to manage Glenwood Cemetery.
Since then, we have expanded the number of nonprofit cemeteries we manage so that, today, the Elmwood Family of Cemeteries is comprised of the following:

• Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, MI (since 1846)
• Glenwood Cemetery, Flint, MI (since 2014)
• Birchwood Cemetery, Macomb Township, MI (since 2015)
• Woodlawn Cemetery, Toledo, OH (since 2016)

 Our shared management and services approach with these cemeteries has allowed Elmwood to strengthen our core business, increase the capabilities of our staff, enhance maintenance and improvements throughout the Family of Elmwood Cemeteries and broaden the awareness of historic Elmwood Cemetery. Ultimately, we believe this business approach has further strengthened the future of historic Elmwood Cemetery.

It is an honor to serve you, your family and friends.  On behalf of my fellow trustees and the Elmwood staff, I thank you for your continued support.