The crucifix is upside down after Priest’s Circle in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery took damage when severe storms moved through the Tri-State on Wednesday, spawning dozens of tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings Thursday, April 3, 2025.
Sacramento, California – State officials have ordered the immediate shutdown of four cemeteries in California, citing allegations of financial mismanagement and illegal operations. The closures, announced in March cease-and-desist orders from the California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, affect Mount Tamalpais Cemetery in San Rafael, Skyview Memorial Lawn in Vallejo, Chapel of the Light in Fresno, and Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland.
According to the bureau, a division of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, the cemeteries must stop all business activities — including burials and property sales — and pay $5,000 fines for continuing to operate despite having surrendered their licenses.
The orders followed an investigation that revealed the sites were still conducting business even after their permits had expired: Mount Tamalpais on January 1, 2025, Chapel of the Light on March 31, 2024, and both Evergreen and Skyview Memorial on January 1, 2024.
The cemeteries are owned by Buck Kamphausen and several partners, who reportedly attempted to transfer financial control to Evergreen Ministries, a nonprofit religious organization. Kamphausen claims the move was designed to save money and avoid stringent regulatory requirements by operating as a church-affiliated nonprofit.
“You don’t need a license to be a church,” Kamphausen told SFGATE. “So all the churches that have cemeteries, they don’t have to make reports to the cemetery bureau.”
Kamphausen blamed high taxes, rising cremation rates, and costly maintenance equipment for the cemeteries’ struggles. He also questioned the bureau’s oversight capabilities, saying officials lack the expertise needed to properly regulate cemetery operations.
“They can’t regulate something they don’t understand — cemeteries are complicated,” he said.
Despite Kamphausen’s defense, the state has taken significant action. According to The Mercury News, $52 million in “endowment care funds” — money earmarked for cemetery upkeep — has been confiscated by the bureau amid concerns about financial mismanagement. A Solano County judge previously ruled that the cemeteries had a pattern of misusing funds, including commingling money between different locations.
Further scrutiny came from Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-Marin/Sonoma), who wrote to the bureau in March alleging that Mount Tamalpais Cemetery was operating illegally and under management with “a history of blatant misconduct and financial impropriety.”
Kamphausen maintains that staff have been caring for the cemeteries and that he is not trying to defraud anyone. “We’re trying to make the cemeteries better,” he said. “They’re older cemeteries.”
