Rosemont Park Acquired and New Management Announced

Zion Gardens to be Managed By Waldheim Cemetery Company

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rosemont Park Cemetery, located at 3600 North Narragansett Avenue in Chicago, has been acquired and renamed Zion Gardens. The Zion Gardens property includes Mt. Mayriv and Isaiah Israel, B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim and B’nai Brith. The new Management Team is comprised of current executives of the Waldheim Cemetery Company, the trusted choice for Chicago’s Jewish families for more than 130 years.

The property acquisition was completed recently, and changes will be evident at the 50-acre site over the next several months. Knowledgeable and concerned cemetery officials in the local industry invited the Zion Gardens Management Team to review the property, and their acquisition was approved by the State of IL Comptroller’s Office based on Waldheim Cemetery Company’s successful restoration and operation of its Forest Park property as well as plans to preserve the Zion Gardens site.

The previous management of Rosemont Park apparently did not have the necessary resources to continue to operate the property, acknowledging to State of Illinois officials that they utilized principal revenues from its care fund in addition to the monies generated from the investment of grave care to meet the needs of the cemetery. Since the transfer, Zion Gardens has created a new perpetual trust fund through Northern Trust Bank to properly endow this site. Zion Gardens has access only to the fund’s income, not the principal.

“We bring to Zion Gardens our time-honored tradition of serving Chicago area Jewish families with compassion and caring at a time when they are coping with the loss of a loved one,” says Zion Gardens Management President Irwin Lapping. “Our strong management skills along with an understanding of how to create and properly administer trust funds will allow us to guide Zion Gardens to solvency. We believe that the Waldheim Cemetery Group was selected by the State Comptroller’s Office based on our thoughtful plan of minimizing the impact on families while preserving trust fund net income to enable future growth and desirability of Zion Gardens.”

The cemetery, renamed Zion Gardens, is now in secure hands. However, all previous grave care contracts between individuals and Rosemont cannot be fulfilled because their funds were used up to operate the cemetery and provide maintenance services until no more money was left. As endowed and annual care no longer exists with the transfer of the Rosemont Park property, new arrangements will have to be made with Zion Gardens Management for grave care.

Zion Gardens Management recognizes that these now unfunded and worthless contracts are not in keeping with the expectations of these owners made at the time they were entered into. The new management looks to take every possible step to create a safe, secure, and lasting future for those at Zion Gardens. “We turned around a cemetery that was neglected and in disarray,” explains David Penzell, director of operations at Waldheim and Zion Gardens Management. “We are a good example of a very well run Jewish cemetery which assures an environment where memories are preserved.” Individual families are financially responsible for the grave care of their loved ones, regardless of any types of previously made arrangements.

“Waldheim Cemetery Company has an established reputation for excellence in customer service over its many years of existence, and I congratulate them on the acquisition of Rosemont Park Cemetery,” said Illinois Comptroller Judy Barr Topinka. “As Illinois Comptroller, I look forward to working with Waldheim in the coming months and years to build on its proud tradition, and ensure the continued responsible management of cemetery services.”

In addition to managing grave care of the entire 50 acres, this perpetual trust fund money will enable Zion Gardens to manage ownership records, monument care, beautifying cemetery grounds, maintaining the roads and more. The management company prides itself on its “astute financial controls” and looks to share its healthy, stable image with Zion Gardens cemetery.

All burials in Zion Gardens cemetery follow Jewish tradition. For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact Zion Gardens Management at [phone].

For more information about Zion Gardens Cemetery, or to arrange an interview with
Irwin Lapping or David Penzell,
please contact Falk Associates at [phone] or [e-mail].