SMYRNA CEMETERY
Established 1891
SMYRNA CEMETERY
Established 1891
133 years in 2024
2016 marks the 125th year of Smyrna United Church of Christ. In January of 1891, ground was broken to build a church midway between the settlements of Needy and Yoder in the heavily timbered rural land in the Willamette Valley. The first service in the roughed-in building was held in April. A month before, the first burial in the cemetery was Catherine Yoder Lantz, a charter member, who with her husband Gideon and family was the first Yoder settler in the community. When her brother and nephews were casting about for new homes, she was the one writing to them in Missouri & Illinois to come west to the fertile lands of Oregon. By 1893, there were at least 65 Yoders within a 1 mile radius. Others buried at our historic cemetery before 1895 include Elizabeth Owen, two of Iddo & Hattie (Yoder) Hein’s babies, Lucy Smith, and John P. Yoder.
Caretakers:
Cemetery Use Policy
Media
For pricing, stone markers and regulations regarding plots for burial in our cemetery or cremation garden, please contact Rick Gano at 503-651-2044.
Our Cemetery Newsletter is published annually in the Spring.
We maintain a list of Smyrna Cemetery Burials in PDF form.
Donations to Smyrna Cemetery
We rely on your generous donations to keep all this going. Our tax-exempt ID is #93-0798541. Send your donations to:
Joel Daniels, Treasurer
31060 S Kauffman Rd
Canby, OR 97013-9520
Donations can also be made through your credit/debit card.
Please note: If you are making a donation as a memorial,
please fill out "In Memory Of" box on the donation form.
Cemetery Committee members are
Please feel free to contact members of the committee for more information by calling the church office at 503-651-2131 . Leave a message and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.