St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery
The cemetery of the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church Community is located in the city of Osseo in the northwest corner of Hennepin County, Minnesota, just to the east of the church on 93rd Avenue North.
Both the parish and the cemetery have been in existence for over 150 years.
As the parish grew, built, and expanded (now in its fourth church building), the cemetery has quietly grown from one section (in the northwest corner of the cemetery) to fourteen sections.
There are about 4,000 gravesites in St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery, of which about 3,500 are occupied. The earliest one we can see today is dated 1874. The church purchased nine acres just to the south of the cemetery and obtained a conditional use permit to expand there. The first phase of the expansion was completed in the Spring of 2014.
In the meantime, our cemetery has gone through some other changes. The wishes of patrons and mourners, and the cost of grounds-keeping and maintenance, are making it more important to enforce rules to keep the cemetery free of clutter and in good appearance. Lot owners can expect artificial, seasonal and loose flowers to be removed. Additionally, the parish is re-enforcing regulations on gravesite decorations, due to the difficulty of moving and trimming around so many objects. Fresh flowers and potted plants must be in approved stands and seasonal wreaths/flowers must be removed within a reasonable time to keep the cemetery looking fresh and neat. Permanent benches are no longer allowed and bushes/trees can only be planted by cemetery personnel.
The Cemetery Committee has been gathering names for grave owners to enable communication about cemetery requirements and changes. If you own a gravesite and have not been contacted by the church recently, please notify the office at 763-425-2210 or [email protected].
We welcome you to visit the cemetery and become familiar with this important ministry at St. Vincent de Paul Church.
