I am a native Californian. I went to school in Santa Rosa and married Vern Leete also from Santa Rosa. After being away for quite some time we returned to California and found the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery in a mess. The weeds were thigh high because it had been abandoned. A group of teens from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints began rescuing the cemetery. Later that year the city included it in the "Hands Across the County" program. It took less then a year to give the cemetery the sense of dignity it deserved. Now it has natural beauty with its huge oaks and Vinca. Garbage was hauled away and gravel put on some of the graves. Walkways were cleared. Headstones were straightened and bleached. The pioneers of Santa Rosa are buried here and these young men and women understood the importance of honoring those that had established their fine city.

In 1986 a young man named Adrian Seeser chose to list all the names in this cemetery for his Eagle Scout award. With his permission those names have now been added to this site in hopes it will help anybody that has family or friends they could not locate before.

It has been an honor to be a part of the reconciliation of this graveyard. It gives me confidence in the youth of our town. My hope is that you as a searcher will find comfort in what you find.