Delta Council approves 320 new Rest Haven Cemetery plots

The Delta Junction City Council has approved the addition of 320 burial plots at Rest Haven Cemetery, providing much-needed space as the existing cemetery nears capacity.

The council approved the expansion in 2025 and authorized clearing the additional area after a local contractor offered to complete the work at no cost to the city.

“We had room for maybe 12 more burials, excluding the Pioneer section,” City Administrator Lori Roberts told the council. “So we had to move forward.” 

At its Sept. 15 meeting, the council approved the 320-plot map surveyed and submitted by Sebastion Saarloos.

Rest Haven Cemetery dates back to the 1970s, when the local Ladies Aid Committee selected the name for the community burial site. Before the cemetery was established, Delta-area residents who died were either buried in Fairbanks or on their own homesteads.

Shirley Ann Gibson was the first person buried at Rest Haven in 1977.

The newly created plots are expected to be available for purchase beginning in January. According to Roberts, the cost of a standard burial plot is $1,000. Opening a grave costs an additional $1,000, as does closing the grave.

Cremation burials can be accommodated within the new plots, with up to four cremations permitted in a single plot. Two traditional burials may also share a plot, such as in the case of a husband and wife.

Members of the Alaska Pioneers section are not charged for their plots in the Pioneer portion of the cemetery. The city’s opening and closing fees, however, still apply.

Plots may also be sold back to the city for the original purchase price.

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