Friends of Pacheco Pioneer Cemetery.....a shot in the arm

The Board of the Pacheco Pioneer Cemetery met recently. We have a renewed commitment to staying more closely involved with the betterment of the cemetery.

In 2013 the conclusion of a class action lawsuit against a former cemetery owner occurred. Thanks to the efforts of lawyer, Richard Brown, the class claimants agreed to gift $200,000 to the next legitimate owner of the cemetery, for its betterment. The court ordered the new owner, Eric Bianco, to come to an agreement with the Friends of the Pacheco Pioneer Cemetery and the Pacheco Town Council, as to how to spend that money. By the time the agreement was reached the money had grown to $227,000, with another $11,000 that was gifted to the Friends group. 

The $227,000 was placed in a Special Endowment Fund, and is accessed via the court appointed Special Master, Richard Brown. 

The project list includes an electronic gate (now installed), ground penetrating radar, a security system, digitizing records in a software program that includes gravesite locations, and an irrigation and grass.

Mr Bianco has hired a worker to keep the cemetery ground mowed and looking better. We are happy about that!

September 2015 Dry and mowed 

Taken in the spring, a year when there was rain

 Let us know who you are! We want to increase our family contact list!!!

Christine Williams, President

Current Cemetery Update

As some of you may know, the current owner of the Pacheco Cemetery is Eric Bianco. Now that he has all the legal requirements in place for operating the crematory and managing the cemetery, he is up and running! He also has a funeral home service at the site.

The remodel of the facility is very nice....the new crematory is state of the art.

The Board from our organization (Friends of Pacheco Pioneer Cemetery, Inc.) recently had a meeting with Mr. Bianco and a tour of the building.

The next step that our group is trying to help with, is encouraging the forward movement of some $200,000 that was reserved at the end of a class action lawsuit from 2 owners ago, to possibly be given to a new owner. It's purpose is for the benefit of the cemetery itself. Mr. Bianco bought the cemetery and buildings for his funeral home and cremation business. even though he cannot do in ground burials in the cemetery, he still has to keep the cemetery looking nice.

This class action money would help him do some needed tasks to improve the cemetery's appearance, improve security, and to upgrade the record keeping.

A court previously ordered that he, our group, and the Pacheco Town Council had to come to an agreement on how the money would be spent, before it could be distributed. That agreement has been reached. All that is left is for the lawyer to finish the paperwork and file it.

Let us know if you have been by the cemetery recently and what your connection is to this historic cemetery!

Blog Start....Pacheco Cemetery Friends

It's time to get the information out there that we have gathered over the past 5 years about the historic Pacheco Pioneer Cemtery, Pacheco, CA. Begun in 1862, when landowner, George P. Loucks allowed the burial of a young boy on his property, the cemetery has grown and groaned over the years.

Friends of Pacheco Cemetery, Inc formed in 2003, in order to research the history of the cemetery and those buried in it; to provide continuity of caring about the cemetery's condition; to work with owners and/or government entities to provide for its care and preservation.

We have gathered the burial records of over 2200 people who have been interred there. We have collated reams of information on the original land grant, the deed transfers, and the ownership issues. More will be added as time goes on.