east valley
Volume 5 Issue 09 Mesa, AZ
September 11, 2022
QC agritainment farm adding a mausoleum BY MARK MORAN Staff Writer
S
IN THE BIZ
chnepf Farms, a Queen Creek venue known for farm-themes weddings, pumpkin festivals, giant hay mazes, fresh peaches and other family-friendly events might seem like an unusual place to think about actually burying your loved ones. “We are not known for the cemetery necessarily; we are known for our agritainment,” said owner Mark Schnepf. “Some people thought ‘gosh why are you building a cemetery?’” “This has been in the works for many years,” Schnepf said, explaining that his father envisioned a cemetery for Queen Creek as far back as the 1970s but “never got it done.” And as land became more and more valuable in Queen Creek, the younger Schnepf and his wife Carrie realized that no one would ever build a cemetery when land could be sold, subdivided and sold off to the highest bidder, usually home builders. Being among the largest landowners in the state, Schnepf had the luxury of doing something for the community and his descendants – and not for the quick buck. “The thing is that every community needs a really good, beautiful place to place their loved ones that have passed,” Schnepf said. “A place that’s close. A place that’s affordable. A place that is beautiful, and peaceful and safe. “So, that’s what Carrie and I have created here at this corner of Schnepf Farms.” Schnepf’s story is personal. Because his father wasn’t able to see his vision come to fruition and get a cemetery constructed Public Notices ............... page 2 © Copyright, 2022 East Valley Tribune
Mark Schnepf spoke last week at the groundbreaking for the new Mausoleum at San Tan Memorial Gardens at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek. (David Minton/Staff Photographer) in Queen Creek, his parents are buried in Mesa. As a result, Schnepf doesn’t visit their grave sites as often as he would like. So in 2013, Schnepf finally acted on what he thought was a glaring need for the people of Queen Creek. He created that long dreamt of cemetery, San Tan Memorial Gardens at Schnepf Farms, on 7 acres of land at the southeast corner of the 5,000-acre farm. “We have just under 1,500 burials already within the cemetery,” said Memorial Gardens director Dillon Benavides. “We’ve been doing burials since 2013. And there’s room for many more with broad swaths of well-manicured, bright green grass, bookended with park benches, all under a canopy of mature trees. With that phase of the cemetery complete, and a shifting trend away from in(USPS 004-616) is published weekly
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ground burial, Schnepf has created a partnership with private individuals as well as Gateway Bank. They have donated $2 million to break ground on phase two of the cemetery, the Mausoleum at San Tan Memorial Gardens at Schnepf Farms, billed as the first freestanding structure of its kind built in the Southeast Valley. “Some families may be uncomfortable with in-ground burials. Other families just like the aesthetics,” Benavides said. “Or, especially with cremation on the rise, a lot of families prefer instead of burying the urn in a burial vault, they prefer to place it in a mausoleum.” The mausoleum has room for at least 80 crypts for caskets, 1,200 columbarium niches for the placement of cremated remains, family-size urn niches to accommoSubscriptions are $26 for 2 years, $14 for one year. Periodicals postage paid at Phoenix, AZ 85026.
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