Mission Statement: 

"Garden of Innocents is a charitable organization dedicated to providing loving memorial services and dignified burials for unclaimed children and infants in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area."

Our Mission:

Garden of Innocents was founded to provide unclaimed children and infants a dignified and loving memorial and burial which the Medical Examiner's Office is unable to provide.

All Garden services are provided free of charge to the Medical Examiner’s office, and all arrangements are made by Garden volunteers.

Each child referred to the Garden is first given a name. Additionally, they are provided a casket, a small teddy bear, handmade blanket, booties, hat and burial gown.  This clothing is referred to as a burial layette and is lovingly created by Garden Volunteers.  Children's whose remains are particularly fragile are buried in handmade burial pouches.  Garden Volunteers also arrange for at least one natural or silk casket floral spray.

The child is picked up by a local funeral home; this same funeral home transports the child to the gravesite for burial. A printed program is created by a Garden Volunteer to commemorate the child's memorial ceremony.  A clergy person presides over the memorial service which takes place at Calvary Cemetery's chapel.  Whenever possible Garden Volunteers provide music for the ceremony.  Each service ends with a gravesite prayer and a reading of the poem Little Angel of Innocence  This poem was created by Barbara Huber in honor of the children resting in the garden.

The name, birth and death date of each child resting in the Garden is inscribed on the Garden's permanent Stone Memorial.   The memorial service is captured and is displayed on the Garden's website (via the News link on the green menu bar).

For contact information, click here.