National Cemetery Administration
South Florida National Cemetery
Visitation Hours: Open daily from sunrise to sunset.
Office Hours: Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed federal holidays.
This cemetery has space available to accommodate casketed remains, cremated remains and a Memorial Wall for memorialization.
Burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces who have met a minimum active duty service requirement and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
A Veteran's spouse, widow or widower, minor dependent children, and under certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities may also be eligible for burial. Eligible spouses and children may be buried even if they predecease the Veteran.
Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty or who die while on training duty, or were eligible for retired pay, may also be eligible for burial.
From the North: Via FL Turnpike: Exit Lake Worth Road (# 93), turn left heading West until you come to SR 7 / US 441. Make a left heading South until you pass Lantana Road. Cemetery is on your right.
Via I-95 from PBI: Exit Lantana Road / FL 812 (# 61), turn right heading West until you come to SR7 / US 441. Make a left heading South. Cemetery is on your right.
From the South: Via FL Turnpike: Exit Boynton Beach Boulevard (# 86), turn left heading West until you come to SR7 / US 441. Make a right heading North. Cemetery is on your left just North of Hypoluxo Road.
Via I-95: Exit Hypoluxo Road (# 60), turn left heading West until you come to SR7 / US 441. Make a right heading North. Cemetery is on your left.
From Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) start out West on Turnage Boulevard and follow that to Australian Avenue South and take the ramp to Southern Boulevard. Merge onto Southern Boulevard heading west and take that all the way to State Road 7/Highway 441. Turn left/south on 7/441 and follow that to cemetery entrance on right-hand side one mile south of Lantana Road intersection.
Fax all discharge documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 and follow-up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117.
For information on scheduled burials in our national cemeteries, please go to the Daily Burial Schedule.
The 338-acre South Florida National Cemetery will serve veterans’ needs for the next 50 years. The cemetery is located in Palm Beach County in Lake Worth on State Road 7/U.S. 441 just south of Lantana Road and north of Boynton Beach Boulevard.
Burial arrangements will be made after death, as with all national cemeteries. VA does not reserve grave space. Veterans or spouses wishing to be buried in national cemeteries should have the veteran’s military separation papers available to establish eligibility, which requires an other-than-dishonorable discharge. Dependent children may also be buried.
For educational materials and additional information on this cemetery, please visit the Education section, located below.
We welcome fresh-cut flowers throughout the year and provide flower containers for gravesite displays as a courtesy. Once the flowers become unsightly, we will remove them. They may also be removed for routine mowing or other maintenance.
Limited floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial can be placed on the completed grave: three for a gravesite; two for a Columbarium inurnment.
Artificial flowers and potted plants are (a) allowed in the Columbarium Complex (non-sodded areas) and are disposed of by cemetery staff the last Thursday and Friday of each month; and (b) also allowed on sodded gravesites only for a period extending five days before and five days after Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Mother's and Father’s Day, and Yom Kippur. Otherwise, artificial flowers are not allowed on sodded gravesites due to the damage they can cause to mowers and other equipment.
Seasonal Holiday Adornments for Christmas and Hanukkah such as wreaths, potted poinsettias and other seasonal items (no glass or ceramics) may be placed on graves from Dec. 1 through Jan. 20. Applicable adornments are also allowed five days before and five days after Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Mother's and Father's Day, and Yom Kippur. (no glass or ceramics)
To maintain the dignity of the cemetery, permanent plants, statues, balloons, pinwheels, vigil lights, breakable objects and similar items are not permitted on the graves. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not permit adornments that are considered offensive, inconsistent with the dignity of the cemetery, or considered hazardous to cemetery personnel.
NOTHING IS TO BE ATTACHED TO OR PLACED ON HEADSTONES AND NICHE COVERS. NO GLASS OR CERAMICS ALLOWED AT ANY TIME.
VA regulations 38 CFR 1.218 prohibit the carrying of firearms (either openly or concealed), explosives or other dangerous or deadly weapons while on VA property, except for official purposes, such as military funeral honors.
Possession of firearms on any property under the charge and control of VA is prohibited. Offenders may be subject to a fine, removal from the premises, or arrest.
South Florida National Cemetery is the fifth national cemetery built in Florida and the 125th in the national cemetery system.
Historically, the site of South Florida National Cemetery was used as farmland, as evidenced by the historic canal systems used to irrigate the property. Portions of the site were used for cattle grazing up until the time of its purchase by the National Cemetery Administration in 2002.
The development of Palm Beach County, and South Florida in general, was sparked by the investment in the local railroad system by Henry Morrison Flagler. An early partner of Standard Oil with John D. Rockefeller, Flagler left the company in the late 19th century, turning his attention to the creation of a continuous railway system down the east coast of Florida, stretching from Jacksonville to Key West. This railway was instrumental to the rapid growth of Palm Beach County in the 20th century.
South Florida National Cemetery opened for burials in 2007, and was formally dedicated on March 9, 2008.
Joseph “Joe” Henry Astroth (World War II). Astroth was born in Illinois in 1922. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and played baseball and basketball. He joined the Coast Guard in 1942 and served until the end of World War II. After the war he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Athletics professional baseball team and made his major league debut in August 1945. Astroth was a consistent catcher in 10 years with the Athletics, who moved to Kansas City during his tenure. He was a solid defensive player who had a career percentage of “caught stealing” at 49-percent. He is one of only nine players to collect six RBIs in a single inning, a feat he performed against the Washington Senators in 1950.
John “Johnny” Leonard Gray (World War II). Gray was born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1926 and was a standout baseball player at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. During World War II he served with the U.S. Army in the Mediterranean Theater. He was signed as a pitcher by the New York Yankees in 1950 and played four years in the minor leagues before making his major league debut with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1954. He moved with that squad to Kansas City and also played with the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Phillies throughout a four-season major league career. His best game took place on July 30, 1957, when he pitched a three-hit shutout against the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
Chris Hixon (Persian Gulf, Iraq). Hixon enlisted in the Navy in 1986 and transitioned into the Naval Reserves in 1992 where he retired in October 2013. His military awards and decorations include 3 Navy Achievement Medals, Good Conduct Medal, Navy Reserve Meritorious Service Medal and Navy Reserve Medal. He saw service in the Persian Gulf during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Hixon worked as the athletic director and wrestling coach at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He stepped in to coach other sports threatened to be discontinued, at different times coaching as many as five sports with no supplemental pay. During a horrific school shooting on February 14, 2018, Hixon raced toward the gunfire to protect the students and stop the attack. He was one of 17 killed at the Parkland school.
Claude Roy Kirk, Jr. (World War II, Korea). Kirk was born in San Bernardino, CA in 1926. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve after high school and rose to the rank of second lieutenant serving stateside in World War II. He earned a bachelors degree from Duke University and graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa in 1949. He was recalled to the Marines during the Korean War and served with the 1st Marine Division and then aboard the battleship USS New Jersey. He was discharged in 1952 as a first lieutenant, and started a successful insurance firm in Jacksonville, Florida in the late 1950s. Kirk changed his party affiliation to Republican in 1960 and, after losing a bid for a U.S. Senate seat in 1964, won the Florida governorship in 1966—the first Republican governor in the state since Reconstruction. He held the office for one term, from 1967 until 1971, earning the nickname “Claudius Maximus” for his brash, colorful personality.
John Orsino (Vietnam). Orsino was born in Teaneck, New Jersey in 1938 and grew up in Fort Lee. He attended the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, on scholarship for one year before signing with the New York Giants as a catcher prior to the 1957 season. He had five successful seasons in the minor leagues hitting 100 home runs and being named to three all star teams, including the 1960 All-American Minor League Team. Two of his minor league off-seasons were spent with the U.S. Army, one of them an 8-month tour due to the 1961 Berlin Crisis. His major league debut with the San Francisco Giants came in July 1961. He was acquired by the Baltimore Orioles the following season and remained with them through 1965, then played for the Washington Senators from 1966-1967. Orsino returned to New Jersey after his professional career ended and coached baseball at Fairleigh Dickinson University from 1970-76 and 1980. After his baseball coaching career, he worked as a golf pro in New Jersey, then Florida. He was the Florida Atlantic University golf coach from 2004-2006.
Henry “Hank” Rosenstein (World War II). Rosenstein was born in Brooklyn in 1920 and attended City College of New York. He was named the MVP of the Eastern Jewish Center Basketball League for 1942-1943. During World War II he served in the Navy and played for the Sampson Navy and Brooklyn Armed Guards—both Navy basketball teams playing in New York. Following WWII, Rosenstein played for a mostly Jewish New York Knicks team that took part in what is considered the NBA’s first game on November 1, 1946, against the Toronto Huskies in Toronto. He was traded to the Providence Steamrollers in 1947 and played for the Scranton Miners from 1947-1952. Rosenstein was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
Leo Carmen Zeferetti (World War II). Zeferetti was born in Brooklyn in 1927. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946 as a yeoman. From 1957 to 1974 he was a New York City Department of Corrections officer. In 1974 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New York’s 15th district, representing several neighborhoods in Brooklyn, as a Democrat. His served 4 terms in the House until losing a bid for reelection in 1982.
We are developing educational content for this national cemetery, and will post new materials as they become available. Visit the Veterans Legacy Program and NCA History Program for additional information. Thank you for your interest.
