History & Staff

At Mission Mortuary & Memorial Park, we provide personalized service options that allow you to honor your loved ones in a way that is both meaningful and healing. We hope to provide support and caring while delivering memorial services that celebrate life and help families find the peace they deserve.
If you’re seeking an honorable celebration of life in Monterey and the surrounding areas, we invite you to learn more about where we came from, our vision, and the dedicated people behind our work.

A History of Caring

Mission Mortuary opened its doors in 1946 at a location on Munras Ave. in Monterey and moved to our current location on Camino El Estero in 1952.  Being centrally located on the Monterey Peninsula and adjascent to the San Carlos and Monterey City Cemeteries, Mission Mortuary has been the premier funeral home choice for Monterey and the entire peninsula.  While times certainly have changed, so has Mission Mortuary in keeping up with the changing needs of our families.  We offer a  large, remodeled, facility with a chapel that seats 180, our signature reception room that many have said "rivals any fine dining restaurant", and our 'Memories Cafe' which is our hospitality room offered to our families.  Whether a handful of friends and family or large crowd, we can accommodate all.

We offer families choosing cremation peace of mind by having the option to have cremations done right across the street at Monterey City Crematory.

Mission Memorial Park opened in 1934 as Mission Memorial Cemetery and for many years was run by the city of Monterey.  In 1988 Monterey Peninsula Mortuary opened on the grounds of our beautiful Seaside location.  In 2007 we closed our Chapel of Seaside at our Noche Buena location and merged the two to become Mission Mortuary & Memorial Park.

The community and our families have embraced our funeral home and cemetery combination as it offers peace of mind knowing all is done in one comfortable environment with one caring staff. At Mission Mortuary & Memorial Park we offer burial and cremation services and many cemetery options for burial or cremation.  We are proud of the reputation we have earned and continue to be Seaside and Marina's most recommended funeral and cemetery service.

Our Staff’s Dedication to Respectful Care

A funeral, or memorial service, should provide family members and loved ones with the chance to reflect, remember, and celebrate a life well-lived. At Mission Mortuary, our goal is to create exceptional services and experiences that fulfill the wishes of your loved one. Our experienced Funeral Directors provide guidance on the crucial first steps toward healing.

Lorrie Ann Muriel
Location Leader

Lorrie Ann Muriel is a licensed funeral director and embalmer in both California and Arizona.  Born and raised in Salinas, she went off to mortuary college and graduated, from the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science, in 1996.  She then moved to Arizona, where she worked for both family owned and corporately owned funeral homes, until she decided to open her own funeral home in 2015.  Once her son, River, went off to college, she decided it was time to come home to Monterey County and she recently sold her business so she could return home. 

Lorrie has a passion for helping families and has made it her mission to try to make the funeral process a little bit easier for folks in any way she can.  Having experienced a traumatic death in her own family, at a very early age, she knows just how difficult losing a loved one can be. Lorrie's goal is to be a little bit of light in the dark during your time of need.  



Linda Stillabower
Administrator

Linda was born in East L.A. and raised in the Long Beach/Paramount area. She moved up to the Monterey Bay in 1993 with her children. She worked with the County of Monterey at Natividad Medical Center for 13 years, wearing many hats and fulfilling many roles. She left seeking a new challenge in the private sector. She was embraced by the owners at Healey Mortuary in Salinas and immersed herself in the funeral industry. Linda bid farewell with the Healey thirteen years later.

Currently Linda has been serving the Monterey Peninsula community at Mission Mortuary since 2019 as an Administrator. She enjoys being part of a team and helping facilitate families with their loved ones' final wishes. To her, it is the most honorable thing one can do for someone. Her desire is to continue serving and providing her best care, until her retirement. Linda loves to read and spend time with her family, especially her grandchildren, who are the light of her life. She says, “These are my best years”.



Alexandria Jiminez
Funeral Arranger

Alexandria (Alex) Jiminez is a welcome new addition to Mission Memorial Park. Alex has joined the team as our Lead Cemetery Operations Administrative Assistant. She is eager to learn and grow with the Mission team as she enjoys helping others and taking on new tasks to keep herself busy. One of her goals is to learn something new every day!

Alex was born and raised in Monterey County but relocated to sunny Southern California in the winter of 2018. She (and her fiancé) recently returned to the Central Coast after obtaining her bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice in Crime Analysis with Cyber Security at Cal State San Bernardino. She is humble and grateful for the opportunity in earning her degree as a first-generation graduate. As the oldest and only granddaughter of her family, she hopes to continue making her family proud of her accomplishments.

When she isn't busy juggling two jobs, or attending a class, she enjoys taking road trips with her fiancé, reading, listening to podcasts, and looking for a record store to add new vinyl to their ever-growing collection.



Grace Manio
Family Service Advisor

Grace Perez Manio, is a Family Service Advisor for the Mission team. Grace hails from the Philippines and was a twenty-year resident of Oahu, Hawaii. Grace recently moved with her husband Ramses a US Army National Guardsman along with her two family cats Lucky & Belly to Seaside in order to be closer to her husband’s family. Grace’s family whom she visits often lives in Los Angeles.

Her vocation in helping families specially during times of difficulty and loss began when she was a Religious Programs Petty Officer Second Class in the United States Navy in Hawaii. She started her career in the cemetery industry in Hawaii with Service Corporation International. Grace studied at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines majoring in Business Administration. She is the proud mother to her children, Mia and Carlo and a loving grandmother to Isa, Ari, Gabbi and Angel



Kathy Berry
Family Service Advisor

Kathy Berry has lived her entire adult life in California, she is a California Life and Health Insurance Agent and Cemetery Sales licensee. Kathy helps provide our families with the peace of mind that comes from planning arrangements in advance. Kathy will carefully walk you through each step of the planning process so that when the time of need arises your family is not left with making emotional financial decisions.

Kathy has two adult children and a beautiful granddaughter, during her down time she enjoys being outdoors, hiking, taking in the beauty of the Pacific Ocean and reading.



Maria Rivera
Apprentice Embalmer

Twenty-six-year-old Maria Rivera is the youngest of five, she and her siblings were raised by their devoted and very hardworking single mother. Maria graduated from California State University of Monterey Bay in 2017 with a Bachelor Degree in Kinesiology and a minor in Pre-Law.

When Maria was just seven years old she experienced an event that impacted the rest of her life and as a result instilled in her a passion for funeral service. In 2001 Maria was forced to confront the journey of grief for the first time in her young life, her beloved father had passed away. “The moment I had to see my father in his casket was something I will never forget”. Maria will be forever grateful to the embalmer that cared for her father, she will never forget the care and manor in which he was presented. For Maria she knew immediately she wanted to become an embalmer, she understood at that moment she wanted a career in the funeral industry serving others.

Maria also has a passion for gardening, “I love the whole process from planting a seed and getting to experience a beautiful flower as it blooms”. Other hobbies include walks, running, hiking and simply relaxing and reading a good book.

Mission Mortuary is honored to have Maria join our team, her passion for our industry as a result of a very personal life changing experience will add incredible value for both our staff and those we serve.



Sergio Sanchez
Cemetery Superintendent

Sergio is from Colotlan, Jalisco, Mexico. Sergio understood from an early age that America would offer him the best opportunities.

At eighteen years of age he moved to the U.S. and shortly thereafter proudly gained his citizenship. Sergio takes great pride in caring for Mission Memorial Park. He explains that he is completely at peace in the cemetery environment and describes that helping others during such difficult times is very humbling. “I am extremely grateful for the career I’ve been afforded”.

America is very dear to Sergio. He and his lovely wife have called Watsonville home for many years now. Together he and his wife have three children and one adorable grandson. Sergio describes himself as a very personable individual. He enjoys getting to know others and learning the many walks of life we have all travelled.

As dear as America is to Sergio, he looks forward to travelling back home as often as he can to visit those most important to him, his parents and siblings.   



Jessica Salinas
Funeral Arranger

An Oregon native, Jessica grew up in the Willamette Valley before moving to California.

At a young age, Jessica realized she was destined to serve her community. From the time she was 13, she would spend each summer performing camp cleanup, and trail preservations, through her local FFA chapter and through Polk County Mounted Posse. When Jessica was 19, she graduated from Marion County Fire Academy and became a volunteer firefighter and EMT.

In her free time Jessica enjoys sewing, woodworking, gardening, and spending time outdoors with her husband, and their dog, Betty.



Matthew J. Garcia
Funeral Attendant

Matthew Joseph Garcia was born and raised in Salinas, California. Throughout his career in the Funeral Industry, Matthew has dedicatedly served many families, from all walks of life, while working at several mortuaries throughout San Joaquin and Monterey County, California. Matthew takes great pride in the work that he provides for families, during their time of loss, while always striving for perfection and professionalism. In October of 2022, Matthew was a welcome addition to our team at Mission Mortuaries. Matthew is an avid automotive enthusiast and enjoys fish keeping, gardening, traveling, and fine dining.