Contact point: NCA Pacific District
Phone: 510-637-6270 | E-mail

The VA National Cemetery Administration (NCA) is expanding access to funeral services to serve the San Francisco area by developing the Alameda Point National Cemetery, a columbaria-only cemetery that is part of the planned VA development of the former Alameda Point Naval Air Station will be.

The first phase of Alameda Point National Cemetery opens with 25,000 niches and has a final capacity of approximately 300,000 niches. Construction is expected to start in 2023-2024. Alameda Point National Cemetery is designed to serve veterans and their eligible family members for the next 100 years or more.

NCA Urban Initiative

Alameda Point National Cemetery is part of the NCA’s Urban Initiative, a program to improve access to funeral services in certain densely populated areas to better serve veterans, their spouses, and families. In some of the largest urban areas that VA serves – the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Indianapolis – the nearest national cemeteries are more than 100 km away. The two VA cemeteries in the San Francisco Bay Area, Golden Gate and San Francisco National Cemeteries, are closed to new burials.

Open cemeteries serving the San Francisco Bay Area

Until Alameda Point National Cemetery is open, the two closest open cemeteries in VA are Sacramento Valley National Cemetery and San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery.

Sacramento Valley National Cemetery
5810 Midway Road, Dixon, California 95620
707-693-2460 | website
The cemetery offers the following burial options: coffin, urn (in the ground or columbarium), ossuary and memorial wall.

San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery
32053 West McCabe Rd., Santa Nella, CA 95322
209-854-1040 | website
The cemetery can accommodate coffin and cremated remains (in soil or columbarium).

VA funeral services and memorabilia
VA Funeral Services can help service members, veterans, and their family members plan and pay for a funeral or memorial service at a VA National Cemetery. Family members can also order memorial items to honor a veteran’s service. Find out how to apply for the funeral services you have purchased and how to schedule a funeral in advance or on demand.

important phone number
National Cemetery Planning Office: 800-535-1117
Gravestones and markings: 800-697-6947
Hotline for VA benefits: 800-827-1000

Helpful Links on the Benefits of VA Funerals and Memorials
Funeral and memorial service video in VA
Funeral services
Eligibility to participate
Determination of the burial authorization prior to the burial
Schedule a funeral

frequently asked Questions

Can I reserve a funeral at Alameda Point National Cemetery?
No, the National Cemetery Administration plans services as required. We have a pre-burial eligibility program to help anyone interested in finding out if they are eligible for a VA National Cemetery burial. VA sponsors pre-eligibility determinations to encourage veterans and their eligible family members to plan ahead to take advantage of the VA funeral benefits veterans have earned through their military service. Planning ahead for the death of a veteran or loved one can avoid unnecessary delays and reduce stress for a family during a difficult time. For more information and to apply online, visit the pre-authorization website.

What burial options are available at Alameda Point?
Alameda Point National Cemetery is an above-ground cremation-only facility that will serve veterans and their eligible family members in the San Francisco Bay Area for decades to come. The cemetery can only accept urns.

What is a columbarium?
A columbarium is an above-ground structure intended for the burial of cremated remains in an alcove 10½ “x 15” x 20 “deep measured at the front. The columbarium unit is usually double sided with numbered rows and columns for efficiency that identify each niche.
The columbarium is a prefabricated concrete structure with foundations. The structure is clad with bricks, blocks, stones, granite or prefabricated veneers, which are similar in material to other structures in the cemetery. Niche covers are provided by the National Cemetery Administration, the Memorial Programs Service (MPS).

Can I still be buried in Alameda Point National Cemetery if I do not want to be cremated?
No, Alameda Point is a cremation-only cemetery. There are other burial options at the Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley National Cemeteries for veterans and family members who choose a different burial option.

My loved one is buried in another VA National Cemetery. Can I move them to Alameda Point National Cemetery once the cemetery is open?
We consider all funerals final, however families may go through the move out process at their own expense to relocate their loved ones. Please visit the NCA’s disinterment page for more information.

When will Alameda Point be open for funerals?
We expect the Alameda Point National Cemetery to open in late 2025.

How many niche spaces will Alameda Point National Cemetery have?
Alameda Point will initially open with 25,000 niches and will have an approximate final capacity of 300,000.

Can spouses be buried in a VA National Cemetery?
Yes, a veteran’s spouse, minor children and, under certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities (if diagnosed at the age of 21 or 23 if enrolled in college) may also be buried even if they died before the veteran .

Who is eligible for a funeral at Alameda Point National Cemetery?
Eligibility for the Alameda Point National Cemetery is the same as for any other VA National Cemetery. Burial in a VA National Cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces and veterans who have fulfilled the minimum requirements for active service and have been released under other than dishonorable conditions. Under certain conditions, members of the reserve troops of the Wehrmacht who died in active service or in training service, as well as soldiers and former soldiers who were entitled to their death at the time of the retirement claim, are also entitled to a burial.

A veteran’s spouse, minor children, and, under certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities (if diagnosed at the age of 21 or 23 if enrolled in college) may also be buried even if they died before the veteran.

On the page “Eligibility” you will find information about the eligibility for certain groups and the exclusion criteria.

How do I schedule a service at Alameda Point National Cemetery?
Scheduling is easy. Fax all discharge documents to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 866-900-6417, then call 800-535-1117. You can also scan all discharge documents and email them to the NCA scheduling office. Visit the Burials and Memorials page for more information.

Does the VA pay the funeral expenses?
The veteran’s family should arrange for burial or cremation with a funeral home or cremation office. Any item or service obtained from a funeral home or cremation office is the responsibility of the family. The VA offers a reimbursement funeral allowance to cover burial, funeral and transportation costs for veterans who meet certain requirements. For more information and to apply for reimbursement, see the Veteran’s Funeral Allowance page.

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R.Ichard Segovia’s house is as loud as the Latin rock music he teaches kids in his basement studio. With colors ranging from jungle green and royal blue on the sidewalk to a red and yellow sunburst on the ridge, the otherwise humble Spanish-style house is essentially a giant mural, a crowded portrait of long deceased musicians, Segovia’s family members, social activists, various psychedelics and one or the other jungle animal.

Segovia has lived in the Mission District of San Francisco since 1963 and sees itself as the guardian of the district’s culture, especially as the birthplace of Latin rock. (Carlos Santana, a family friend, grew up nearby.) But increasingly, the 68-year-old “Mayor of the Mission” is faced with a stark display of all the colors that have been bled from the city in successive waves of technology-driven ones Gentrification.

“I walk through the neighborhood every day and see all these gray houses,” says Segovia. “It’s like a cemetery.”

From the International Orange of the Golden Gate Bridge to the intricately carved and painted facades of the Painted Ladies in Alamo Square, vivid colors have long been the grammar of San Francisco’s native architecture.

Richard Segovia stands in front of his brightly painted house in San Francisco. The house next to his is painted gray. Photo: Talia Herman / The Guardian

But between the pastel tones and the gold leaf decorations you can see more and more a conspicuous juxtaposition: 125-year-old houses painted in the tones of a nuclear warhead from the Cold War or a dormant cinder cone. In neighborhoods like Mission and Haight, this phenomenon reads for some residents as the eradication of the Latino community or the ongoing counterculture. Gentrification gray houses have become a totem of wealthy intruders. The rush of wealth to central cities is global in scope, but its impact has been particularly pronounced in San Francisco – all the more as the city is known to value its own uniqueness.

Some of these homes have accents of black or darker gray. Some are just the color of a stranded humpback whale. Many have the crispy oxidized planters full of succulents or geometrically austere horsetail plants straight from a dwell magazine page, while others feature brightly painted doors in the same off-neon palette as athleisure clothing.

To their proponents, they’re sleek and contemporary, with paintwork that can take a punch without ever looking dirty. To their critics, they’re unimaginative, historically inaccurate deviations that a wealthy biotech CEO who wears a gray Patagonia fleece vest every day will appreciate – or worse, real estate agents are pushing to add some appeal to a potential investment property in the country nobody is allowed to live.

“I had some concerns about painting our house gray, even though it’s a symbol of gentrification in the Mission,” says Kate Shaw, who lives with partner Dav Rausch in a Mission Victorian they bought in 2012. But the couple, a professional designer and a designer by Hobby, say gray was a “jumping off point” in “reinventing” the “shape” of their pre-1900 home.

A calendar shows a home with a color scheme on historic buildings in the Bay Area designed by Bob Buckter, an independent color consultant. Photo: Talia Herman / The Guardian

“Going towards monochrome might be interpreted as lazy, but getting those colors right is his own business. It’s an art in itself, ”she said of Facetime during a tour. “Color emphasizes the shape and not the other way around.”

“We hired a Latino crew led by a Latino who was laid off from my company,” added Shaw. “People said, ‘Hire him! He’s great and we want to make sure he’s looked after and cared for. ‘ His crew said, ‘We’re used to so much more color and we love that!’ They placed it at the top of their website as what they were most proud of. “

The notion that Victorian houses were traditionally polychromatic is as much a myth as is our contemporary notion of ancient Roman cities like Bone White. As a form of civic improvement, Roman buildings were brashly – garishly decorated by most modern standards – while San Francisco’s Victorians were likely relatively drab when first built.

“When these Victorians started they didn’t have that many color options – usually white or gray, lead-colored. You didn’t pick out the moldings, ”says architect David Baker, who lives in a gray house himself. “I think we shouldn’t take it seriously – it’s just color.”

But for Bob Buckter, known as Dr. Color, it is anything but just color. He has worked as an independent color consultant on historic buildings in the Bay Area for more than 50 years – around 18,500 by his count.

“I talk to people, find out what their taste is, what they like, what they don’t like, whether they are wild or conservative, whether they like dark blue or dark gray or polychrome, how they are dressed, how they design their interiors” he says in his gray-purple office with aubergine-colored curtains and hand-painted ceiling medallions.

Many Buckter customers return for a second or third treatment – in some cases a fourth. He takes a straightforward approach of giving the customer what he wants and tries not to impose his own taste on people. But the usual result is a uniquely harmonious mixture of colors, so that a monochrome, matte exterior appears contradicting his practice. Is it simply a taste preference or the mutilation of an irreplaceable treasure from an old sequoia tree?

“All of that. I’ve spent my life taking care of the architectural details of historic houses and other architectural things, and I want to find out the purpose that they let me in and make color. Whether the market is selling the building or Proud of ownership, I have to take care of all of that in my design, “says Buckter, who thinks I’ve done something.”

After consulting with so many homes and getting enough attention that his work has resulted in copycat jobs, it’s likely that Buckter shifted collective tastes in a certain direction. Consequently, the rise of the gray Victorian could be a reaction against his aesthetic.

Bob Buckter, known as Dr. Color, has consulted on nearly 18,500 historic buildings in the Bay Area – including his own home in the Mission. Photo: Talia Herman / The Guardian

“That can be part of it,” says Buckter. “I think the main reason is a trend towards simplicity and modernity. They are fed up with the polychrome look, some of these people. This trend has been noticed by others and some people just ride the wave of this trend. “

The lack of color annoys some longtime residents whose love for the sedate San Francisco homes has never diminished.

“I wish they’d make me the color officer for San Francisco so that people would check with me what colors they were using,” says artist and photographer Liz Mamorsky. “Some people try to do something good and restore a Victorian style, but they don’t quite get the colors right. You want that retinal flash that you get by having two complements of the same shade. “

Fred Messbarger, a 15-year-old homeowner in Mission, calls the gray trend “heartbreaking,” saying that the “beauty of San Francisco resides in the Victorians and Edwardians, and the contrast of the houses and the curves and the details – and that too.” Neighbors”. . One house could have completely different colors than the others. “

Messbarger had his Italian house repainted in turquoise, navy blue and white around 1870, with gold details and a neon green door. Everyone in the family had input and the response was positive.

“When I work outside in the garden or even leave the house, I keep getting comments and compliments,” says Messbarger. “It’s nice to hear because it took us five years to decide what to paint.”

“I didn’t think we were brave,” he adds. “I just thought we were bringing back color. The door is bold, but that’s our son’s fault. “

But sometimes gray is what happens when a diverse group tries to make a decision.

Eric Carlson owns a condominium in a four-story building that is home to a Latino family, a Greco-American family, and another single man. When it came time to repaint the “deep pale pink with white moldings” on the exterior, these very different people found it difficult to come to an agreement. After six weeks of looking at Swatches, everyone made lists of their top 4 and their two “absolutely not”. The result? Homburg Gray, with parchment white trim.

“I would have been fine with a much more expressive color,” says Carlson. “I was also aware that this had to be a consensus and that these were acceptable colors. Do i love her No. But does it look a lot better than what we had before? By and large, life is about compromise. I knew that by the early 20s there would be no appetite for a historically accurate color. “

If nobody really loves it, then why does gray seem to dominate?

“I think we’re in a strange place where this slate gray looks like a popular color and so is self-reinforcing,” says Carlson. “We are used to this dull palette of modern architecture, and it is boring. We are not exactly in the Baroque era of architecture. “

For some brokers, a dull tungsten gray coat can do more than just dampen the look. When a luxury real estate company bought the house next to Segovia and painted it gray, Segovia tried to put down the real estate agent and tell him that whoever bought the house would have a rock musician as a neighbor.

Cousins ​​Maggie Guillen, 12, left, and Noe Zuleta, 14, sit on the front steps of their home in the Mission District. Photo: Talia Herman / The Guardian

“He wouldn’t pay any attention to me. So I said, ‘I’m going to take revenge on these fools.’ ”Segovia put his speaker system against the wall and slammed Metallica during the open house.

Eventually, the real estate company spent $ 40,000 to soundproof Segovia’s home studio so they could offload their property – to people who paid $ 750,000 and then four years later for $ 1.7 million to the current owner sold.

Segovia has been offered $ 2.5 million in cash for his home so many times that he threatened an aggressive agent with legal action.

“I’m not moving. I’m not going anywhere. I have my roots,” he says. “Working with kids, teaching kids music without asking for money. It’s about giving back to the community. Latin rock music is Made here in the mission district, so my aim is to keep that alive. “

As for the ongoing cruelty, “There should be a law,” says Segovia. “Enough is enough. For me they are prison colors.”

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Nestled on a hill between Two houses in a quiet neighborhood, the Henry Wickenburg Pioneer Cemetery seems almost as forgotten as its famous namesake. Entering the cemetery feels like trespassing, although there is signage and a clearly marked path.

Henry Wickenburg is best remembered for discovering the Vulture Mine and as the founder of Wickenburg, Arizona. Few know that he was instrumental in creating a dusty little agricultural town called Phoenix, which is now the fifth largest city in the United States.

Born Johannes Henricus Wickenburg in Essen, Germany on November 21, 1819, Henry arrived in the port of New York in 1847 and followed the 1852 gold rush to San Francisco. By 1863, Henry had left California to travel to the rugged desert of newly formed Arizona territory and set up camp near Hassayampa Creek. In October 1863, he discovered the Vulture Mine, which was the most productive gold mine in Arizona and had produced an estimated $ 70 million worth of gold during its operation from 1863 to 1942.

The boomtowns of Vulture City and Wickenburg that sprung up around the mine were harsh mining camps known for the lawlessness associated with the American Wild West. The surrounding desert was unsuitable for agriculture, which made it difficult to provide sufficient food for the miners. The businessman Jack Swilling from Wickenburg suggested clearing the centuries-old Hohokam canals in the Salt River Valley to create an agricultural community. Henry provided much of the funding for Jack Swilling’s Ditch, the forerunner of the Salt River Project. The clearing of these ancient canals brought the large-scale irrigation necessary to create an agricultural community large enough to feed the vulture mine and surrounding towns. Settled in 1867, Phoenix was thriving as an agricultural center, with products flowing into the mine and wealth from the mine flowing back into Phoenix. Henry’s funding of the canal project was arguably his most sustainable and impactful accomplishment.

Henry died on May 14, 1905 of a gunshot wound to the head. At the time, his death was classified as a suicide, although the circumstances were suspicious and many people believed he had been murdered. He is buried with five of his friends Henry Cowell, Lydia Cowell, James C. Todd, James Chase and William Wise in the Henry Wickenburg Pioneer Cemetery. This private cemetery was on a hill owned by Henry Wickenburg overlooking the Hassayampa Valley, the town of Wickenburg, and the Wickenburg House. In use from 1902 to 1928 before the municipal cemetery was created in 1931, it incorporates a style of construction known as a “bed frame” that is not common in cemeteries in the southwestern United States. The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 2011.

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