The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Lakeview Memorial Gardens: The 1968 Land Acquisition and Original Plat

The establishment of Lakeview Memorial Gardens as Avon Park’s sole commercial perpetual-care park cemetery originated in 1968 under the leadership of Sebring real estate developer and general contractor Robert E. Sherwood (1928–2015)[obit-robert-sherwood-2015]. Public records preserved by the Highlands County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, the Highlands County Property Appraiser, and the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations document the land acquisition, official platting, and geometric design that shaped the cemetery grounds along Memorial Drive bordering Lake Denton.

Robert E. Sherwood and the Lake Denton Acreage

In the late 1960s, municipal Bougainvillea Cemetery was rapidly filling its available platted sections, creating demand for a new perpetual-care memorial park in northern Highlands County[lakeview-about]. Developer Robert E. Sherwood, an Indiana native and graduate of Indiana University who had moved his family to Sebring in 1959, spearheaded the project[obit-robert-sherwood-2015]. As President of Sebring Shores Development, Inc. (chartered in 1954), Sherwood had platted extensive residential subdivisions and constructed the Sebring Shores Golf Course in 1966[sunbiz-810053][obit-robert-sherwood-2015].

On 29 April 1968, Sherwood chartered Lakeview Memorial Gardens, Inc. as a Florida profit corporation (Document 329423) with its principal place of business in Avon Park[sunbiz-329423]. To house the cemetery, Sherwood assembled a master tract of approximately 25.48 acres in Section 2, Township 34 South, Range 28 East, situated along the east side of State Road S-17-A (now Memorial Drive)[hc-plat-9-11][hcpao-lakeview].

The property was laid out as an east-west parcel extending 1,851.37 feet from Memorial Drive toward the western shoreline of Lake Denton[hcor-deed-1812-1703]. The legal description comprised two contiguous government subdivisions:

  1. The North 600.00 feet of the Southeast Quarter (SE 1/4) of the Southwest Quarter (SW 1/4) of Section 2.
  2. The North 600.00 feet of the West 600.00 feet of the Southwest Quarter (SW 1/4) of the Southeast Quarter (SE 1/4) of Section 2[hc-plat-9-11][hcpao-lakeview].

This rectangular strip, measuring exactly 599.45 to 600.00 feet from north to south, provided road frontage while reaching toward Lake Denton, providing the scenic setting that gave the cemetery its name[lakeview-about][hcor-deed-1812-1703].

Platting Section One: Plat Book 9, Page 11 (1968–1969)

To formally establish the cemetery under Florida law, Lakeview Memorial Gardens, Inc. commissioned registered land surveyor W. Dale Thomas (Florida Registered Land Surveyor No. 2190) to survey and subdivide the western portion of the property into a modern lawn-park layout[hc-plat-9-11].

The resulting subdivision plat, titled “LAKEVIEW MEMORIAL GARDENS, SECTION ONE: A Modern Memorial Garden in Section 2, Twp 34S, Rge 28E, Highlands County, Florida,” was prepared on two sheets and recorded in Highlands County Plat Book 9, Page 11 (Instrument Number 253931)[hc-plat-9-11].

Execution of Dedication

On 4 October 1968, the corporate dedication was formally executed by the company’s executive officers:

  • Robert E. Sherwood, President
  • Harry Y. Britton, Secretary[hc-plat-9-11]

The dedication stated:

“KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, That Lakeview Memorial Gardens, Inc., a Florida Corporation, by its President and Secretary, does hereby dedicate to the perpetual use of the public, for cemetery and burial purposes only, the lands described hereon as Section One of Lakeview Memorial Gardens, and does hereby dedicate the streets, drives, and walks shown hereon to the use of the lot owners and their invited guests for the purposes of ingress and egress to and from the cemetery lots, and for other cemetery purposes, reserving however, unto the said Lakeview Memorial Gardens, Inc., its successors and assigns, the reversion and reversions thereof, and the right to construct, maintain, and operate over, under, and through said streets, drives, walks, and reservations, water mains, pipes, electric lines, and other utilities necessary or incidental to the operation and maintenance of said cemetery.”[hc-plat-9-11]

The execution was attested under the corporate seal and acknowledged before Highlands County Notary Public John S. Shoal (Shook) on 4 October 1968[hc-plat-9-11].

Survey and Approvals

Surveyor W. Dale Thomas certified on 26 October 1968 that the plat represented a true and correct survey performed under his direction and complied with Chapter 10275, Laws of Florida[hc-plat-9-11].

The plat underwent formal county review:

  • Highlands County Attorney Hue Nunnallee certified that the plat complied in form with the laws of Florida and the resolutions of the Board of County Commissioners[hc-plat-9-11].
  • Highlands County Engineer Charles O. Morgan certified on 7 January 1969 that the subdivision conformed to all county engineering requirements[hc-plat-9-11].
  • The Board of County Commissioners of Highlands County approved the plat on 7 January 1969, signed by Chairman James M. Whitlock and Clerk Earl Rich[hc-plat-9-11].
  • Clerk of the Circuit Court Earl Rich recorded the plat in Plat Book 9, Page 11 on 8 January 1969 at 4:24 PM[hc-plat-9-11].

Design and Geometry of Section One

Section One encompassed the western 15.24 acres of the master parcel, fronting directly onto State Road S-17-A[hc-plat-9-11]. Its boundaries were surveyed as follows:

  • Western Boundary: 600.00 feet along the easterly right-of-way line of State Road S-17-A (Memorial Drive)[hc-plat-9-11].
  • Northern Boundary: Extending East 1,033.92 feet along the north line of the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 2[hc-plat-9-11].
  • Eastern Boundary: Running South 600.00 feet parallel to the section line[hc-plat-9-11].
  • Southern Boundary: Running West 1,032.64 feet along the south line of the North 600 feet of the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4, returning to the right-of-way of State Road S-17-A[hc-plat-9-11].

Within this 15.24-acre footprint, Sheet 2 of the plat delineated seven initial garden tracts designated Tracts A, B, C, D, E, F, and G[hc-plat-9-11]. The circulation plan featured a landscaped central entrance road leading eastward from Memorial Drive into a radial circular boulevard, anchored by a central circular memorial rotunda feature[hc-plat-9-11]. Curving access avenues looped around the individual burial tracts, establishing a park-like lawn cemetery free of vertical curbing or fences, designed specifically for flat bronze markers flush with the lawn[hc-plat-9-11][lakeview-about].

A 30-foot utility easement was designated along the entire northern margin of the tract, accommodating electrical power infrastructure granted to the Florida Power Corporation (recorded in Official Records Book 319, Page 109)[hc-plat-9-11][hcor-deed-1812-1703].

The remaining eastern portion of the 25.48-acre holding—comprising roughly 10.24 acres extending an additional 818 feet eastward into the SW 1/4 of the SE 1/4—was retained as an unplatted reserve tract for future garden expansion toward Lake Denton[hc-plat-9-11][hcpao-lakeview].

Cemetery Inauguration and Land Legacy

With the recording of Plat Book 9, Page 11 in January 1969, Lakeview Memorial Gardens commenced operations. Three months later, on 2 April 1969, the cemetery opened its burial ledger with the military funeral of United States Army combat correspondent Staff Sergeant Charles Wayne Jenkins (1940–1969), who had died in South Vietnam on 19 March 1969[lakeview-about]. Jenkins was interred in Lot 2833 of the newly platted Section One[lakeview-about].

In Highlands County’s Official Records system, computerized document indexing begins on 31 December 1979 (around Official Records Book 643)[hcor-deed-1812-1703]. The underlying late-1960s conveyance conveying the twenty-five acres to Sherwood or Lakeview Memorial Gardens, Inc., along with contemporary utility agreements such as the Florida Power Corporation easement in Book 319, Page 109, resides in the county’s pre-1980 physical deed books and microfilm archives in Sebring[hcor-deed-1812-1703].

When Lakeview Memorial Gardens, LLC conveyed the entire cemetery property to Keatley Investments-Lakeview on 27 December 2004 for $320,000 (recorded in Official Records Book 1812, Page 1703), the conveyance deed confirmed the unbroken legal boundaries established by Sherwood and Dale Thomas in 1968, explicitly referencing both the original 1969 plat (Plat Book 9, Page 11) and the master 25.48-acre perimeter running east toward Lake Denton[hcor-deed-1812-1703][hcpao-lakeview].

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. Highlands County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Lakeview Memorial Gardens, Section One, Plat Book 9, Page 11, Highlands County Public Records (1969) · official
  2. Highlands County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Special Warranty Deed: Lakeview Memorial Gardens, Inc. to Keatley Investments-Lakeview, Highlands County Official Records Book 1812, Page 1703 (2005) · official
  3. Highlands County Property Appraiser, Highlands County Property Appraiser Parcel C-02-34-28-A00-0090-0000 (Account 012297), Keatley Investments-Lakeview (2026) · official
  4. Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, Lakeview Memorial Gardens, Inc., Florida Profit Corporation Document 329423 (Merged/Inactive) (2002) · official
  5. Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, Sebring Shores Development, Inc., Florida Foreign Profit Corporation Document 810053 (Inactive) (1991) · official
  6. Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home / Legacy.com, Robert E. Sherwood Obituary (December 28, 1928 – May 23, 2015) (2015) · archival
  7. Lakeview Memorial Gardens, About Us, Lakeview Memorial Gardens and Cemeteries (2026) · secondary

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