Our History
With a combined history spanning over 300 years, our three cemeteries have a long and storied past. They are the final resting places for many of Delaware's most prominent persons, elected officials and thousands and thousands of our most revered citizens. Among the most recognizable names memorialized are the Actor, Robert Mitchum and U.S Senator, J. Allen Frear, Jr.
Although Sharon Hills/Odd Fellows Cemeteries are no longer affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) or any of the Odd Fellows Service Organization, many visitors still ask about the derivation of the term "Odd Fellows" which adorns our cemeteries in Smyrna and Camden. The Odd Fellows organization was founded in England in the 1700's. They were a group of artisans who banded together to provide help for those less fortunate in matters of both life and death. In those days the concept of charity for the "underclass" was unheard of, so they became known as the Odd Fellows.
In the 1800's the Odd Fellows organization reached across the Atlantic to America and our cemetery in Smyrna was chartered in the 1880's. Shortly thereafter, the Odd Fellows cemetery in Camden was founded. In 1958 Sharon Hills Memorial Park was created to serve the greater Dover community.
Each one of our three cemeteries has a distinct personality. While they are unique in their own right, they share a sense of peaceful tranquility and honor each life with dignity.
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