On Part of Rancho Mission Viejo : O’Neill Family Cemetery Approved

In a throwback to pioneer days, members of the O’Neill family received permission Wednesday to establish a private family cemetery on a portion of the 40,000 acres they own at Rancho Mission Viejo.

“Because of their longstanding ties to the land, they were very interested in having a place on the land to be used as a private cemetery for family members,” a spokesman for the family said.

The Board of Supervisors Wednesday approved the cemetery, with Supervisor Thomas F. Riley hailing the O’Neills as one of “the most generous participants in the Orange County community.”

Richard J. O’Neill Sr. acquired the ranch, which once covered 260,000 acres, in 1882. Much of it was sold to the federal government in 1941 and became Camp Pendleton. Ten thousand acres later were sold to the Mission Viejo Co., now owned by Philip Morris Inc., and the family now owns 40,000 acres, a family spokesman said.

Richard J. O’Neill Jr., grandson of the original purchaser of the ranch and the only family member still living on the property, said Wednesday that the cemetery was not his idea and he has no plans to be buried there.

“There’s been talk of this (family cemetery) for years,” said O’Neill, the former state Democratic Party chairman. If other family members want a cemetery, “fine, they did it,” he said.

County officials said they were unaware of any remaining family cemeteries in Orange County.

The Yorba Cemetery in Yorba Linda, resting place of the Yorba family and other Spanish settlers, is being restored by the county, which acquired it in 1967 from the Roman Catholic Church.

Mike Miniaci, the county ranger who oversees Yorba Cemetery, said family cemeteries of the pioneer days tended to be transformed into community burial places as family property was developed and sold.

“Very few people can afford to have a private cemetery,” Miniaci said.