Mentor Municipal Cemetery is carving out a dedicated resting place for the city's veterans, with new Veteran Honor Walls offering 448 cremation niches reserved exclusively for military veterans and their spouses. Niches go on sale starting Nov. 1, and the project will be formally dedicated on Veterans Day.
448 Spaces Built Into 14 Columbaria
The new Honor Walls include 14 columbaria, and according to the City of Mentor, each one holds 32 niches, adding up to 448 dedicated spaces at the cemetery. Every niche can hold the cremated remains of a veteran and their spouse, with a maximum of two cremains per space, the city says. Eligibility is limited strictly to United States Armed Forces veterans and their spouses, and buyers must provide proof of military service at the time of purchase.
City officials describe the project as the fulfillment of a long-held ambition. Kenneth J. Filipiak said the Honor Walls give families and visitors a dedicated place to remember people who served in the military, and that Mentor will care for the grounds with dignity, as Cleveland.com reported. A 2025 city legal notice listed the project's opinion of probable construction cost at $270,000, per the same city filing.
Purchases Open Nov. 1, Inurnments Follow Veterans Day
Families can begin purchasing niches on Nov. 1, though inurnment of cremated remains won't start until after Veterans Day, the city notes. The cemetery office, located at 6881 Hopkins Road, is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and families interested in purchasing a niche can reach the cemetery by phone or email, per Cleveland.com's reporting.
Conflicting Start Times for the Veterans Day Dedication
Mentor City Council plans to dedicate the Honor Walls as part of the city's Veterans Day observance on Nov. 11, but city materials disagree on the exact start time. One city notice states the dedication will take place during a Veterans Day Memorial Service that begins at 11 a.m., while a separate city announcement for the same date says the ceremony kicks off at 11:11 a.m., with the Veteran Niche Wall Memorial dedicated immediately afterward. Either way, the service is set to begin at the cemetery's Memorial Promenade, with attendees walking to the cemetery's south end near the end of the program for the dedication itself.
Revolutionary War historian and collector Todd Brighton is scheduled to serve as keynote speaker at the ceremony, according to the city's event announcement. A monument honoring Revolutionary War veterans who settled in Mentor or are interred there will also be dedicated during the same event. Should weather interfere, the city says the ceremony will be moved indoors to the Mentor Senior Center at 8484 Munson Road.
