Desecration of Otis Walker Memorial
We are sorry to have to report about this unfortunate incident, but Cherokee Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Lodi has desecrated our husband/father/grandfather's memorial, treated our mother and our family horribly when we inquired about this devastating development, and they continue to deny our mother a fair and equitable remedy, all in the name of corporate greed.
Otis Walker passed away on April 30th, 2007. He served San Joaquin County for 33 years as a probation officer, before retiring as Chief of Probation. He was laid to rest at Cherokee Memorial in Lodi, California. After he passed, our family found a recording of his voice singing the song, "Green, Green Grass of Home." We were all very emotional listening to the recording and the song has become very special to us. To honor his memory, shortly after his passing, our mother selected a location for his burial adjacent to a sapling Scarlet Oak tree, which she purchased from Cherokee Memorial. Soon after his internment and grave site marker placement, a memorial plaque was purchased from Cherokee Memorial and added to the planter at the foot of the Scarlet Oak tree. A deeply personal quote was inscribed on the plaque regarding everyone coming out to visit Otis "in the shade of the old oak tree," taken from a verse within the song he recorded for us.
This photo was taken on April 30th, 2017, the ten year anniversary of his passing. As you can see, the Scarlet Oak had matured nicely and provided a beautiful background to the grave site. The memorial plaque can be seen just behind two of Otis' granddaughters.
We had a meaningful and emotional ceremony in this tranquil setting under the Scarlet Oak tree. His granddaughter recited a beautiful poem that our father wrote while undergoing a painful bone marrow replacement at Stanford, to try and cure his cancer. We also played a tape of our father singing the powerfully moving song, "Green, Green Grass of Home."
After the ceremony, we all went to Micke's Grove to play softball in honor of Otis and had a picnic. The entire day was a wonderful remembrance of him. It is a day we will never forget and all of us think of this day often.
When our mother recently came to visit our father's grave just before Christmas Eve 2024, here is the shocking scene, which left her utterly devastated. The final resting place for him which had been carefully selected and developed into a beautiful, restful site for visitors, was completely demolished. Our mother was given no notice that the memorial tree and plaque, both of which she purchased, would be removed. To further aggravate the situation, senior management was not only unapologetic, but remains elusive and extremely insensitive regarding the emotional toll and stress caused to our family. When we questioned why the beautiful tree and plaque were removed, we were told that the tree was providing too much shade and killing the grass. The extremely insensitive senior management also stated that the memorial tree, "was in the garbage." Upon further discussion it became clear the intent of Cherokee Memorial was to remove the tree and planter, allowing them to gain two additional plots. Otis' final, beautiful resting place, which we expected to remain in place for many generations, was now just a muddy footprint.
Please Help Us to Get Cherokee Memorial to Do the Right Thing
All we asked for was the site to be restored to as close to its original condition as possible, the plaque restored with the additional text that it is the Otis Walker Memorial Tree, so as to prevent the same thing from happening again in the future, and a newly mature Scarlet Oak planted as a replacement. Since sending Cherokee Memorial a letter with the family's request, senior management is expeditiously proceeding with their plan, to reduce the original footprint, so two more grave sites can be added. Construction is already underway without as much as a phone call to the family to discuss our request in restoring Otis' memorial.
If you also believe that we have been terribly mistreated by Cherokee Memorial and that they should try to make things right, please email them at info@cherokeememorial.com or message them on their Instagram page. We also are amplifying this on X, Facebook and Instagram with the hashtags, #ProtectOurAncestors and #RestoreOtisWalkerMemorial. We appreciate all the help we can get to rectify this situation. We have already received so much help and support from our friends and from those who knew and loved Otis. Thank you all.
If you have had a similar experience with Cherokee Memorial or for more information, please contact us at otiswalkermemorial@gmail.com
A little more about Otis: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/recordnet/name/otis-walker-obituary?id=9498034
Empty Promises
Yesterday, January 29th, we invited local media to the site of Otis' demolished memorial. Here is a link to the coverage provided by KXTV ABC News 10 in Sacramento. Thank you to reporter Gabriel Porras, who covered the story:
Click here for ABC 10 News Video & Article
Despite the statement by president, Walt Scheffer, nothing has been resolved with our family. They have not contacted our mother, any other family member, or any representative of our family.
Before
After
So disappointed in Cherokee Memorial staff. Now their latest story is “it was an oversight.” This could not be further from the truth. They intentionally removed our father’s tree and plaque, removed the planter curbing, and all of the shrubs within the planter, and did the same exact thing to another tree and planter about 50’ away. They did this so they could add two more plots on each planter. How could it be an oversight when they had plans drawn up showing new construction of both planters, with the addition of the new plots. We found this out after we demanded to know what happened to our dad’s memorial. This is nothing but corporate greed. Today it is our loved one but tomorrow it will be someone else’s loved one. We absolutely believe they have more plans to do the same thing to other planters there.
The way our family was treated when we went in to inquire about what had happened was horrible and it was clear we were not going to get anywhere with them. Our attorney sent them a letter with our requests to restore our dad’s memorial to as close to its original state as possible. Their attorney sent back a letter stating to direct all further communications to him and they would get back to us in two weeks. Since then they have not contacted us to discuss and have expedited construction so the family can have no input.
When we originally found out Cherokee Memorial desecrated our dad’s memorial and went in to ask them what happened to it, they told us the tree “was in the garbage,” and the plaque was in safe keeping. We are still not even sure if they have the plaque but we had a verse of the song Green, Green, Grass of Home inscribed saying “They’ll all come out to see me under the shade of the old Oak tree neath the green green grass of home.” After shrinking the footprint to allow additional plots, there is no room to plant an Oak tree and have it grow properly. So even if they return the plaque to the new planter, it’s not going to have the same deeply personal meaning it once did. We are certain Cherokee Memorial wants to finish their construction and sell the plots quickly, so there will be no chance to restore our dad’s final resting place to what it once was. We will not stop fighting for our dad! We still have hope and are asking for any help at all in getting them to do the right thing. Thank you all!
Money Grab
The diagram on the left are the plans that were given to us from Cherokee Memorial when asked about how the footprint was going to change. The red square marks Otis' grave site. As you can see two new spaces were added by making the planter smaller. The before picture above shows the two beautiful trees in the foreground that were removed to make room for the four new burial plots. The tree on the left in the photo, marked with the arrow, was Otis' memorial tree. Both trees were sacrificed to make more money for Cherokee Memorial. Cherokee Memorial stole my father's memorial tree that our mother purchased, to squeeze in more burial plots. As this horrible saga has unfolded, we have spoken with many other families with loved ones buried in this area that are extremely upset as well. They also said that they never saw an issue with the shade of the trees causing the grass to die. They are upset because one of the major reasons they purchased burial plots for their loved ones in this area was because of the beautiful trees. They said that Cherokee Memorial has not given them any answers on why the trees were removed. Cherokee Memorial has broken their sacred trust to protect our loved ones that have passed away. When we met with reporter Victoria Franco from the Stockton Record, this morning, 1/31/2025, Cherokee Memorial was already profiting, as one of the new burial plots (marked as New Space, above the 1) was prepped and ready for an internment. Cherokee Memorial can't even wait for the planters to be completed to get their ill-gotten gains.