Orange County Veterans Memorial Cemetery

The Orange County Veterans Memorial Cemetery at 111 Craigville Road in the town of Goshen grew from the dream of Thomas C. Agnew, the Veterans Service Agency's director from 1993 to 1999. The cemetery is open weekdays 9 a.m. to dusk (845-291-2465); the Veterans Service Agency decides eligibility. Who. A veteran of the United States Armed Forces who served active duty and was discharged under other than dishonorable conditions, who was a permanent resident of Orange County at the time of entry into active duty, at the time of death, or at the time of full payment of a plot; the legally married spouse or dependent child of such a veteran; and Gold Star parents - the parents of a veteran who lost his or her life as a result of active engagement in combat. Local Law Number 1 of 2000 defines a permanent resident as a person who resides in the county at least 183 of the immediately past 365 days. Cost. The county's rules and fee schedule come from the 1998 local law, revised in 2000 and 2002. A full-size gravesite, with the first opening and closing, setting of the grave marker, perpetual care and related maintenance, is $500; a small size, about four by four foot, gravesite for cremains is $250; the website lists the same figures under a schedule of fees for spouses and dependent children, so a veteran should expect to pay for the plot unless the County says otherwise. The cemetery's 96-niche columbarium takes one to two cremains a niche at $400. A check or money order goes to the Commissioner of Finance, with the veteran's separation record, death certificates where applicable and proof of residency. VA supplies the veteran's headstone; a spouse's or child's marker is the family's. Military honors are arranged through the agency, which keeps records of interments held without an honor guard.