The Fruitland Community Lions club has announced plans for an all veteran’s memorial, to be placed near Fruitland Community Center. The committee worked with Louisa-Muscatine High School art students to devise a manageable and affordable design. It will have 6-foot black granite walls with seating, a flag and lighting. The memorial will be able to fit 400 names and each veteran will have two lines on the wall. It will be enough room to list names and service information. The memorial will be available to all honorably discharged men and women, living or dead, of any branch of the military. “We don’t want to leave someone off just because there’s no room, we’ll find room – we’ll buy more granite if we have to,” said the chairwoman of the all veterans memorial committee.
The committee decided to place the memorial in Fruitland instead of a cemetery, to allow more people to see it, and to deter vandals. Residents can make a donation to help with the project. There are also other fundraising events being held throughout the year. They do not have a set date when the project will be completed. Jenina Hawley, the committee chairwoman said, “Some memorials take longer than others, it all depends on how the community comes together.”
Rome Monument designs and builds upscale monuments using high quality granite, impeccable construction standards and old-world craftsmanship. Take advantage of the personalization, customization and ordering process from Rome Monument today!
Rosemount Memorial Park in Elizabeth, New Jersey has recently completed a new project and they are working on another. The completed project is a newly renovated cremation chapel. Next, they will be working on building a new mausoleum. These renovations will improve service to the families in the surrounding area.
Upon completion of the cremation chapel renovation, Louis Cicalese, Cemetery President stated, “The chapel renovation will now allow families to have a burial service at the cemetery”. He hopes the renovation will increase convenience and give an overall better funeral experience at Rosemount Memorial Park Cemetery.
Rosemount Memorial Park currently offers traditional burials, and with the new addition of a cremation chapel, as well as a new mausoleum, the residents of the surrounding areas will have more choices when laying their loved ones to rest.
Rome Monument has many services they can provide, they sell cremation urn vaults for ground burials. The lined and sealed outer receptacle holds the cremation urn. Many cemeteries require these vaults and they are available from Rome Monument in various styles and sizes. They are also America’s premier designer and manufacturer of high quality one-crypt and two-crypt black granite mausoleums. Request a quote today and take advantage of their impeccable construction standards and personal touch.
Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit is home to a lavish private mausoleum. It can be compared to mausoleums like the Dodge brothers and its twin sphinxes that sit on the other side of the cemetery. But the mausoleum we are talking about resembles a church building. But it is not a church, it is a community mausoleum. Inconspicuous tombs can be found of Aretha Franklin and members of the Kresge family among many other lesser-known individuals.
Above ground burial facilities can accommodate thousands of tombs. They can be found in cemeteries throughout the county, but they became popular originally in the Midwest. Ever since the time of the Pharaohs, mausoleums have been the burial method of choice for those who preferred something other than earth burial. The name mausoleum comes from a grand tomb built for King Mausolus by his wife, around 353 B.C. The first patent for a community mausoleum was issued in 1907 in the small town of Ganges, Ohio. Buyers were attracted to the idea because of the sanitary design and connection to ancient Egyptian tradition. It also gave average people the opportunity to be buried like a rich person. It expands people’s options who don’t have fortunes to build family tombs.
Soon the concept spread across the Midwest and some of the era’s greatest architects were commissioned to design them. In 1914 the Neoclassical marble mausoleum opened at 1,200 crypts and it was the largest in the country. By the middle of the century Alvin Harley who was based out of Detroit became the foremost architect of community mausoleums. It appears that the large community mausoleum fad is on the decline. But private mausoleums are still popular. In fact, one was recently built for Mike Ilitch. It is a neo-classical mausoleum that is located at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield. It is carved out of white granite and features bronze doors and twin angles. It is a throwback to a gilded age when many people built cavernous crypts in historic Detroit cemeteries. Rome Monument designs and builds upscale and elegant family mausoleums. They use high quality granite, and impeccable construction standards. Take advantage of their old-world craftsmanship today!
This Veterans Day Freedom Park completed its monument to honor all military. This completes their phase four plan in their project for the park. The monument sits on property once owned by David Guest’s great uncle. It sits off a road named after his family. David Guest served in the Air Force for 20 years and the monument has a photo of Guest during his time serving. He says, “for one, it represents all of the veterans and everybody who served, and then to be here on property that was at one time my family’s property, it brings it around and means an awful lot” (David Guest). The monument features war depictions and images of people who have served in the military throughout the years. Some of the images commemorate the War of 1812, the Mexican American War, the Civil War, and both World Wars. On each side of the monument are core military values like service, loyalty, and selflessness. On the top of the monument is an eagle that is grasping a fish. The monument now resides in Freedom Park near the Miracle Leagues Field. Monuments are a great way to remember and honor loved ones. If you are interested in honoring or remembering a loved one. Rome Monument will come along side you and offer their excellent service in crafting unique custom monuments.
Rome Monument released a video detailing how their customers can get completely custom high-quality monuments or mausoleums from Rome's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, all from the comfort of home. Customers can submit their idea, ideated in a range from a CAD drawing to a simple hand-drawn sketch, from anywhere in the United States. Rome Monument is one of the only completely custom headstone and monument companies that services nationwide, including metro areas like Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Orlando, Boston, Atlanta, St. Louis, New York City, and many more. It's all made possible with their unique in-house fabrication facility, skilled craftsmen, and a family history in the business that goes back generations.
Written by Wynne Yelland, Published by Southwest Journal on July 13th, 2019
Posted October 1, 2019
Lakewood Park Cemetery was founded in 1912, they maintain 55 acres of land and have some spectacular family monuments, markers and mausoleums on the grounds. One modern monument based on the twin cities has two gleaming shapes that bend to a point 15 feet above the lawn. It is crafted out of a stainless material. There are many attractively designed mausoleums for families of all backgrounds on the grounds. In the late 19th century, the public was heavily interested in Egyptian tomb archaeology. There are hundreds of Egyptian obelisks in the Lakewood Cemetery. Many of the obelisks follow the proportions of the Washington monument in D.C., but some are leading the way for a new design and construction. If you are interested in getting more information and ideas for family mausoleums, you can go to Rome Monument they have a wide range of private family mausoleums you can personalize for your loved one.
A long-forgotten monument to Rebecca Salome Foster, who helped inmates in New York’s infamous 19th-century jail is to be installed in a courthouse lobby.
Rome Monument stays true to its "completely custom monument" promise with a gorgeous gray granite monument headstone with a victorian woman seated with a bowl of fruit behind her and running shoes on her lap. This monument was sketched from three angles (the front, side and back), and was then scanned for examination by Rome's expert granite designers. After some collaboration and converasation about the details of the piece, a CAD drawing was sent back to the customer for approval. A short time later, this granite headstone, measuring 60" x 12" x 48" on a base that measures 84" x 14" x 10" was delivered to Lakeland, Florida and installed in the cemetery of the family's choice.
A double or companion monument or marker is one headstone that marks two burial plots next to each other. These memorials are normally for a husband and wife but are applicable for siblings, or any two people who were connected in life as they are in death. These custom designed memorials are handcrafted by Rome Monuments' skilled artisans and available in many different styles and shapes. Talk to a monument designer at Rome about etchings, engravings, portraits, epitaphs and inscriptions that enhance the beauty and personalize the message on the monument, including symbols and imagery that convey the specific nationality or religion of the deceased. At Rome, you can select from a wide variety of granite colors for both traditional and cremation memorials in different price ranges. To learn about high-priced beautiful monuments, high end custom grave markers, high quality granite mausoleums and expensive headstones purchased by affluent and wealthy families in the United States for expensive cemeteries and luxury cemetery plots, click here.
Rome Monument is monument dealer that sells high quality custom memorials families and cemeteries in cities, counties and states throughout the U.S. Buy a headstone, grave marker or mausoleum from Rome Monument and then schedule installation in your local cemetery. Some of the communities served by Rome Monument are listed below.
Premium upright monuments sold by Rome Monument can be very expensive with some costing up to $30,000. While $30K may seem to be an exorbitant and unreasonably high price for a tombstone, some New Yorkers spend over $300,000 for a burial plot in Brooklyn. Click here to view images of expensive gravestones purchased by rich and famous Americans. To learn more about Rome Monument, read "13 Secrets Of Tombstone Engravers." To get ballpark prices and costs for headstones, click here. Some headstones cost so much they defy expectations. New York real estate queen Leona Helmsley was laid to rest in a mausoleum worth $1.4 million located in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery north of New York City. Funerals can be very expensive in places like New Jersey. Some rich and famous people, like Nicholas Cage, don't mind paying a lot of money for a cemetery monument or burial tomb. The Stanford Mausoleum, which holds the remains of Leland and Jane Stanford and their son Leland Junior, is located in Stanford California. Construction was completed in 1888 at a cost of over $100,000. Business guru David Straz owns a $1.1 million mausoleum in Tampa’s Myrtle Cemetery. Rome Monument specializes in designing and building high-priced, one-of-a-kind headstones, monuments, and mausoleums that appeal to wealthy families who wish to leave a lasting and superlative legacy.
If you are considering a home burial for a loved one, it is good to know that most states make it perfectly legal to take a body home from the hospital, nursing home, or other institution and bury it on your private property. Only Indiana, California and Washington State outlaw the practice totally. This means most families in America have an option other than burying a loved one in a cemetery where they will rarely see the grave and be required to obey restrictions as to the type of burial and memorial they can have.
In every state, next of kin has custody and control of the body after death. You are allowed to carry out post-death functions such as bathing and dressing the body and holding any type of ceremony you wish. According to the Home Funeral Alliance, “Religious observations, family gatherings, memorials, and private events are not under the jurisdiction of the State or professionals in the funeral industry, who have no medico-legal authority unless it is transferred to them when they are paid for service”.
Home burial is a wonderful way to have a very intimate ceremony around the creation of the grave and to remain close to the deceased for as long as you own the property. It also costs significantly less than buying and maintaining a cemetery gravesite. In most states, the only restrictions to home burial are found in local zoning laws that tell you how and where you can bury the body. For instance, they may outline how far from your neighbor’s property you can place a gravesite, how deep the grave must be, how close to a water source such as a stream or a lake you can bury the body, and various other restrictions. However, none of these laws should prevent you from carrying out your home burial plans in some form or another.
Be aware that a handful of states do require that you hire a funeral director to handle portions of the post-death process. These are Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, and New York. Funeral Directors are knowledgeable of the laws of the state or community and can help you through the sometimes overwhelming legal processes you need to be aware of. Most states let you do it all on your own, but you still have to abide by the statutes, rules and regulations concerning your state and locality.
With that in mind, this page outlines the rules you need to follow and the steps you need to take into account when performing a home burial. For more information and to read a “State-by-State Home Burial Regulations” section, where you can find a snapshot of the laws for your particular state, click here.
Finding the perfect epitaph or saying to personalize a headstone is a difficult task that leads thousands of people every year struggling to find the perfect words to sum up the magic and wonder of a life well-lived. Most people searching the internet to find suggestions are lost in lists of specific examples that do not relate to thier loved one rather than general sources of inspiration. Rome Monument's latest video, "How To Choose The Perfect Headstone Saying or Epitaph", features numerous sources of inspiration, such as the Bible, poems and prayers, favorite/meaningful songs, or other categories, such as beautiful thoughts, popular sayings, worthy attributes, or endearing nicknames. These ideas are perfect for any beloved family member or friend.
If you're having trouble deciding what epitaph inscription to write on the headstone of your loved one, call Rome Monument at 724-770-0100, and one of their headstone designers or showroom managers will be happy to inspire you or point you in the right direction. Inscriptions are added to headstones at Rome Monument free of charge.
Rome Monument Is A Leader In The U.S. Memorial, Monument and Cemetery Monument Industry
Posted On March 14, 2019
With more than 1.4 million Americans receiving hospice care every year, the demand for high-quality end-of-life care is only projected to rise in years to come. In Minnesota, a “death-positive” movement is to thank, experts say. The number of hospice patients in Minnesota has tripled since 2000 and currently accounts for more than half of all deaths in the state, according to an article in the Saint Paul-based Pioneer Press. While the aging population is growing rapidly, a broader cultural shift is also largely to credit: More doctors are encouraging and accepting of hospice, more mediums are portraying it positively, and more people are discussing and planning for end of life.
“There is a huge death-positive movement happening now,” Christin Ament, organizer of Death Cafes in the Saint Paul area, told the Pioneer Press. Death Cafes are just one example. Created in 2004, the concept is to offer a place for people to eat, drink and talk about death. Beyond Minnesota, thousands of death cafes are currently operating in more than 60 countries worldwide. Similarly, the spike in hospice use transcends any one state. Hospice admissions and utilization in the U.S. continued to rise in the second quarter of 2018, according to the latest trends report from Atlanta-based analytics and metrics firm Excel Health. Experts say the biggest reason for the shift is a change in attitude among doctors, according to the Pioneer Press. Traditionally, doctors have focused on lengthening life by whatever means necessary, opting for curative care as opposed to services more closely aligned to patient comfort.
“At times, you were fighting against what the body wanted to do,” Lindsey Pelletier, a hospice nurse who formerly worked in intensive-care units, told the Pioneer Press. “At times, you were doing something unnatural.” But now, hospitals have entire teams focused on palliative care, and doctors respect that high-quality end-of-life care is sometimes best for terminal patients. In addition to making patients’ final days more comfortable, hospice care has also been shown to save money by curbing overall health care spending. With health care costs rising at an unsustainable rate, hospice costs only a fraction compared to many alternatives. For example, intensive care bills from hospitals can cost thousands of dollars per day, while daily Medicare reimbursement for hospice is $180.
Besides death cafes, the international rise of “death doulas” is also emblematic of the death-positive cultural shift. A type of end-of-life care expert, a death doula carries out a dying person’s plan for how and where he or she wants to die, while also providing spiritual guidance and holistic support. Some hospice companies have even begun to work with professionally licensed doulas as a way to separate themselves from competitors. On a high level, baby boomers are partially to thank to the the shifting perception of death, experts say. “My particular demographic is a take-charge-of-my-own-life kind of demographic,” Synthia Cathcart, Compassus’ vice president of clinical development and education, previously told Home Health Care News. “We see more and more openness about, when there isn’t another option given, really embracing that stay-at-home, quality-of-life conversation.”
Written by Brad Bennett
Published by the Daily Telescope on March 2, 2019
Posted on March 3, 2019
Behar Mapping, the leading provider of GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping services in the death care industry, announced today the launch of their 3D GIS mapping solution for cemeteries and mausoleums.
Behar Mapping is revolutionizing the cemetery mapping sector by applying Esri’s cutting edge technology that will allow for web-based visual 3D representation of all graves, plots, niches, crypts and mausoleums in real world location and connected to a GIS database. The technology re-creates a visual representation of the property and allows for details such as location and depth of graves. The functionality and the data that can be featured on the 3D renderings are completely customizable based on the needs of the cemetery, ensuring that each cemetery is given a bespoke product.
Behar Mapping has developed its 3D mapping solution based on Esri’s technology. Mr. Ronen Rybowski, the Founder and owner of Behar Mapping and a GIS Professional (GISP), stresses that “we [Behar Mapping] are providing the industry with the right tools to better serve the public. We also want to provide innovative resources that allow our customers to effectively manage their cemeteries while maintaining complete control over their data”.
A project was recently completed at the Gethsemani Catholic Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Tim Corbett, the Director of Cemeteries at Archdiocese of Portland, exclaimed, “to my knowledge, we are the first cemetery in the US to ever be mapped in 3D GIS technology. Behar has provided us with 3D maps, representing all plots with their accurate location and depth, as well as the mausoleums crypts, niches, and cremation garden. This new visualization has made managing these assets so much easier!”.
About Behar Mapping:
Behar Mapping is a multi-generational family owned business that applies GIS technology to mapping cemeteries to create TRUE digital maps. Behar Mapping uses cutting edge technology such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to create visual solutions for cemeteries. Visit us at BeharMapping.com.
About Esri:
Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, offers the most powerful mapping and spatial analytics technology available. Since 1969, Esri has helped customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Today, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including the world’s largest cities, most national governments, 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri engineers the most advanced solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and location analytics to inform the most authoritative maps in the world. Visit us at esri.com.
With the advent of cremation, green burials, and alkaline hydrolysis (oddly referred to as “wet cremation”), funerals can be as unique as an individual. When a person pre-plans their funeral, they can plan as much or as little as they would like, but, at minimum, they choose a type of service (traditional or direct) and final disposition (alkaline hydrolysis, burial, or cremation).
Pre-planning may include: a written obituary, flowers, sundries (printed folders for the service), clergy honoraria, limo service, escorts, headstones/cemetery markers, burial space, etc. Whether any of these items will later be scrutinized by a County for any Medical Assistance benefits received during the decedent’s life, is a blog for another day. See the Minnesota Department of Human Services MA Estate Recovery Manual for information about how Funeral Expenses are scrutinized regarding MA Claims.
Direct burial and direct cremation bypass any visitation or services, and final disposition occurs within 72 hours of the death (usually within 24 hours).
The term “traditional burial” refers to a funeral service with visitation held before the full service. The body is present in a traditional funeral, and burial in a cemetery takes place following the service. Burial (interment) takes place at a private or public cemetery in either a burial plot (outdoors in the ground) or in a mausoleum (indoors in a vault/crypt). An outer burial container, or burial vault, may be required for burial of remains to surround the casket and prevent the earth from caving in. Each cemetery has its own rules and requirements.
Even if cremation is desired, a person may be embalmed, have a full funeral service with visitation, and opt to be cremated after the services, rather than have a “traditional burial”. Final disposition takes place once the cremation occurs. Cremation does not require a casket, but does require a cremation container, and most funeral providers allow “rental caskets” to be used for presentation at a visitation or during services, then a simple cardboard liner (that slides out of the rental casket) is used as the container to cremate the remains. Once cremated, the cremated remains (often called “cremains”) are placed (inurned) in a simple cardboard box, or a purchased urn, and may be kept, scattered, or buried. Cremains are typically buried in an existing burial plot (depending on cemetery rules), and some cemeteries allow cremains to be scattered atop an existing plot. Cremains may also be placed in a niche in a columbarium.
For the more adventurous, cremains may be shot into space, scattered at sea, made into diamonds or glass sculptures, and buried in a pod to help fertilize a tree.
A memorial service is an option for those who choose cremation. The memorial service follows cremation, no body is present for the service but sometimes the cremains are displayed in an urn, and the services can take place at any time after the death occurs.
For any contested matters where possession of cremains is at issue, you can literally “split the baby”: divide the cremains among next of kin or interested persons. One family member may wish to keep the cremains in an urn in their home, and another may wish to bury their portion. I draw up a basic agreement for all interested persons, as well as the funeral provider/mortician (who may still have possession of the cremains), to sign. Obtain all signatures before any cremains are distributed. I have avoided long, drawn-out litigation by dividing the cremains with consent from all parties!
Choices at a Cemetery
Most cemeteries have options for both traditional burial and cremation. Cemetery options include:
A traditional, in-ground lot
Mausoleum crypt (indoor)
Lawn crypt (outdoor)
Cremation burial – sometimes called cremation gardens
Cremation niche (in a columbarium, indoor or outdoor)
Ossuary for cremated remains
Cremation “scattering” options, in a pond or lake within the cemetery, may include a plaque with name and dates
Cenotaph (an engraved name on a plaque or monument for remains not located at the cemetery)
The average cost for a funeral in 1960, the first year statistics were available from the National Funeral Directors of America, was $708. That excludes cemetery vault fees and other miscellaneous charges. The NFDA said in 2016, that number grew to $7,360. But a WDTV analysis of more than 50 funeral home websites across North-Central West Virginia found that only three plainly and clearly listed their general price lists online.
A Tennessee jury has awarded $7,500 for each body at issue in a class-action lawsuit against several funeral homes and a now-closed cemetery where hundreds of bodies were mishandled.
Rome Monument sells walk-in private family mausoleums to families, churches and cemeteries in the continental United States. View design pictures or watch videos. Click here to see an example of a private walk-in chapel-style family estate mausoleum. Prices for walk-in mausoleums with 2-4 crypts start at $85K and prices for walk-in mausoleums with 6-8 crypts start at $145K.
Ordering An Above Ground Burial Vault In Advance Of Interment
Some people, who pre-plan their burial and cemetery memorial arrangements, choose to have their bodies, or their deceased relatives, stored in a clean and dry above ground crypt or mausoleum for personal reasons. Some of our above ground burial vault customers order in advance of their passing so that they don't burden their family with the process of purchasing the cemetery memorial. Rome Monument offers our exclusive “Pre-Arranged Cemetery Monument Plan” for families who want to take the responsibility and cost for the design, creation, and installation of a above ground burial vault off grieving members of your family. This ensures that our customers get an above ground burial vault built exactly the way they want - from the shape of the crypt, to the size, to the cost of the mausoleum, to the artwork and wording on the front facing.
High Quality Above Ground Burial Vaults Are Manufactured by Rome Monument
Rome Monument has been manufacturing above ground burial vaults since 1934. We deliver to, and install granite burial vaults in cemeteries and memorial parks/gardens throughout the continental United States. Rome Monument manufactures both private above ground burial vaults and community mausoleums. Some people refer to above ground burial vaults as "above ground lawn crypts". If you would like to know how above ground burial vaults actually work, call 724-770-0100 or watch this video titled "High Quality Mausoleum Design and Construction Overview". Click here for a brief history of above ground burial vaults, mausoleums crypts and tombs. The information is very interesting.
Appropriate Use of Above Ground Burial Vaults
Surface level vaults are only appropriate in cemeteries that have no substantial risk of flooding. If you or your family are interested in above ground burial in a private mausoleum, browse pictures in this design gallery to get ideas for a completely 100% personalized mausoleum. Both caskets and cremation urns can be place in above ground tombs and crypts.
Written by Richard Liebson
Published by lohud on April 15, 2016
Posted on February 24, 2019
The eagle head of a World War I monument was restored in White Plains, NY. A newly sculpted eagle head was installed by White Plains native Joe Giglio. The original eagle head had been vandalized. The monument features the eagle sculpture, backed by a "roll of honor" tablet inscribed with the names of the 42 White Plains doughboys who gave their lives in what was referred to as the "war to end all wars."
From DIY funeral services to death doulas, B.C. is on the leading edge of a trend that wants to make death a part of life, and a better experience for everyone. Meet the women leading the trend. Despite decades of scrutiny, the North American funeral industry has changed little since Jessica Mitford’s 1963 expose, The American Way of Death, in which she called the funeral industry a “huge, macabre, and expensive practical joke on the American public.”
StoneMor Partners L.P. (NYSE: STON), a leading owner and operator of cemeteries and funeral homes, announced a number of key financial and operational updates representing further steps forward in its ongoing turnaround effort. These steps include a waiver and amendment of certain loan covenants, growth financing from its largest investor and the completion of an extensive review of its asset base.
Joe Redling, StoneMor’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We continue to make progress with our efforts to revitalize the business and position StoneMor for future success. Securing the waiver is an important step and we are grateful to our lenders for their continued support as we get current with our financial statements. The new facility from our largest unitholder, Axar Capital, brings greater financial flexibility to our turnaround efforts and we plan to use these funds to manage the business, continue our reorganization and drive long-term growth. The findings of a comprehensive asset review also reinforce our belief that StoneMor’s portfolio of assets contains a significant number of properties that are attractive and valuable. The insights obtained will help us better deploy capital within a more focused investment, development and divestiture strategy to strengthen the business.”
In late 2018 Rome Monument received two signed purchase orders from families in New York City to design, build and install two granite upright family monuments. Rome Monument has already completed the memorial design phase of the two cemetery monument projects. In January of 2019, Rome Monument received the approval from both customers that the CAD designs were perfect. Both tombstones are tentatively scheduled to be installed in New York City area cemeteries in April of 2019.
Both headstone construction projects are now in the "Carving and Engraving Phase". Experienced sculptors are now chipping away at the granite slabs at the Artisan Center. Sandblasting, etching and polishing will follow in March. In the spring, after the cemetery grounds in Rockland County and Westchester County have thawed, these two monuments will be delivered and installed in cemeteries near Nanuet and Hawthorne, New York. Nanuet is a hamlet in the town of Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York. Hawthorne is a hamlet in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York. After these two family grave markers have been set at the rural cemeteries, pictures of these personalized headstones will be featured online in the Design Gallery.
Headstone and monument prices in New York City, Rockland County and Westchester County start at $300. The current price for upright monument double-depth grave spaces at Ascension Cemetery in Rockland County, NY is $2,885. Costs for basic upright monuments built by Rome Monument start at $700.00. Prices for a single grave (for up to three burials) at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn cost $19.000, not including foundation costs which range from $740 to $869. Prices for popular upright granite monuments designed by Rome Monument start at $1,200. Grave fees for an upright granite monument (including perpetual care) at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, in Westchester County are $4,400. Prices for popular upright granite monuments constructed by Rome Monument start at $1,200. Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx is developing 20 acres of additional space to create thousands of extra burial spots. In 2016, the price of single lots that provide space for individuals or multiple cremated remains stood at $17,000 and rising. Prices for basic lawn level (flat) grave markers handcrafted by Rome Monument start at $300. In 2019, single graves (3’ x 10’) at the White Plains Rural Cemetery cost $2,000. White Plains Rural Cemetery recently received approval to build a crematory. Prices for premium upright granite family monuments start at $4,000. At the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, about 25 miles north of New York City, family mausoleum site fees, per square foot, start at $240. Sites (756 sq. ft.) for mausoleums at Green-Wood Cemetery cost around $440.000. Starting prices for private single crypt family mausoleums built by Rome Monument range start at $15,000. Click here to watch a video titled "Cemetery Monument and Headstone Photos and Prices".
In the Allegheny Cemetery, a unique headstone bears witness to one man's eternal love for Jaws. Of the thousands of people buried in Allegheny, ranging from film stars like Lillian Russell to baseball greats like Josh Gibson, there is only one man with a shark grave.
Roth Cemetery Services, located in Lancaster, PA serves Central and Eastern Pennsylvania. They provided professional headstone repair, vandalism repair, conservation, cleaning, headstone installation services and cemetery management. Their compapny restores various styles of cemetery monuments and headstones.
Monuments, Headstones, Mausoleums And Memorials For Sale To Westchester County Families And Cemeteries
Rome Monument serves families, Westchesterites, cemeteries, municipalities, churches, civic organizations, funeral homes and businesses in Westcheter County, New York. Rome Monument sells, designs, builds and installs family monuments, private mausoleums and community memorials in the Hudson Valley area north of New York City. Communities served include White Plains, Scarsdale, Bronxville, Greenville (Edgemont), Pelham, Rye, Larchmont, Irvington, Briarcliff Manor, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Yorktown Heights, Bedford Hills, Harrison, Mohegan Lake, Mt. Kisco, Tarrytown and Rye Brook.
Browse Pictures And Watch Videos Of Family Monuments, Private Mausoleums And Civic Memorials For Sale
The "Family Monument Catalog and Personalization Guide (PDF)" is great reading. It explains how Rome Monument completely customizes and personalizes monuments and memorials for families, churches, civic groups and cemeteries.
Browse pictures of 1 crypt mausoleums, 2 crypt mausoleums, private family mausoleums and stately walk-in mausoleums in this PDF guide. Learn how Rome Monument designs and builds elegant mausoleums using high quality granite, impeccable construction standards and old world craftsmanship. Get an understanding of the customization and ordering processes. Learn about high-grade granite, mausoleum foundations, base courses, architectural options and landscaping considerations.
Published by The Monument Builders of North America
Posted On February 5, 2019
The 2019 MBNA Monument Industry Show will be held on February 8-10, 2019 in St. Louis. The premier North American showcase of mausoleums, cemetery monuments and equipment. MBNA’s 2019 Monument Industry Show offers retailers and memorialists the opportunity to view exhibits featuring new products and services, as well as network with key manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and suppliers in the industry.
It’s a sobering sight: weather-beaten tombstones leaning over or broken, pieces of granite strewn in overgrown grass or buried like the people whose names they carry – if the inscriptions haven’t been worn away. Such neglect is common in small cemeteries everywhere, including Bath, which has a handful of ancient burial grounds that were documented as recently as the 1970s, but remain difficult to find.
In this video, you’ll learn about 100% personalized, custom cemetery monuments and the unlimited design possibilities for a family member’s eternal resting place. You’ll see examples of headstones by Rome Monument with unique sizes, shapes, granite colors and artwork. And you’ll follow the story of the “Elephant on the Tomb”, an upright headstone that actually has a sculpted elephant sitting right on top of a granite slab! Click here to see personalized headstones with pictures.
Typical headstones, tombstones, gravestones, monuments and memorials are carved granite slabs or molded bronze markers placed at the head of a grave with an individual’s, or several related individuals’ names, birth and death dates, and an engraved message. Headstone designs are usually chosen from a third party catalog at a monument company, cemetery, or funeral home and include limited options for shape, size, color, and artwork. Popular symbols include religious images representing the Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Orthodox and other religions, traditions, and faiths.
Rome customers, fortunately, don't choose cookie cutter, template monuments from competitors’ catalogs. Our personalized memorials are built according to your individual requirements, desires and specifications. This means the shape, size, granite color, etchings, engravings and funerary artwork are one-of-a-kind and totally unique to your family. No-one will ever have the same monument. In addition, each personalized headstone design is individualized with exclusive adornments and special touches to meet the needs and situation of each family.
Rome Monument has designers and artisans on staff who will create a monument just for you…and just the way you want! For four generations, Rome Monument has been creating memorials and monuments using a variety of artistic styles for cemetery markers, headstones, monuments, statues, mausoleums, and other types of memorials for families in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and Western Pennsylvania. We are frequently called on to design memorials that use symbols, designs and imagery as well as custom artwork created by the families themselves with the help of our monument designers. Along with your personal epitaphs and inscriptions, these designs are skillfully hand etched, laser etched, engraved, or carved into your monument.
Rome designs and fabricates custom cemetery monuments that reflect the passions of the people memorialized: a hobby, their faith, their religion, sports, career, military service, outdoor scenes, flowers, angels, hearts - even a car or motorcycle. The choice is yours.
This video also shows you how to order or purchase the highest quality, completely personalized cemetery monument from a Rome Monument Showroom in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, or from your home anywhere in the United States. We start with a family consultation (pre-need is recommended) in which we discuss options for your personalized monument design. Through detailed CAD drawings, followed by architectural renderings, we fine-tune the monument design plans so that our skilled monument craftspeople can present you with a personalized monument your family will absolutely love! Once designed and constructed, the monument is delivered, assembled and installed in the cemetery of your choice.
You can order, buy, purchase and commission a totally unique, completely personalized cemetery monument with the style, shape, size, and artwork you desire, at a price that is no more than what you pay another monument company, funeral home, or cemetery. That’s because we eliminate the middleman. Here are some ballpark prices for different types of monuments:
Flat Headstone Designs: from $300
Upright Headstone Designs: from $600
Single Crypt Private Family Mausoleum: from $15,000
Two Crypt Mausoleum: from $23,000
3 Crypt Mausoleum: from $28,000
4 Crypt Mausoleum: from $35,000
5 Crypt Mausoleum: from $40,000
6 Crypt Mausoleum: from $45,000
7 Crypt Mausoleum: from $50,000
8 Crypt Mausoleum: from $55,000
9 Crypt Mausoleum: from $60,000
Walk-In Mausoleum (2-4 Crypts): from $85,000
Walk-In Mausoleum (6-8 Crypts): from $145,000
Estate Walk-In Mausoleum (12-16 crypts): from $350,000
Chapel Walk-In Mausoleum: from $180,000
Garden/Outdoor or Sepulcher Mausoleums: from $200,000
To Inquire About Ordering a Completely Personalized Cemetery Monument, Headstone, Gravestone, or Mausoleum, call 724-770-0100 or email info@romemonuments.com.
Death Care Industry Overview
Listed below is an overview of the death care industry in the United States along with news, companies, trends, statistics, jobs, industry forecasts, research, memorial products and funeral services.
Description of the Death Industry
The death industry, also called the death care industry, generates $20 billion dollars a year in revenues in the United States. The terms death industry or death care industry describes companies such as Rome Monument based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Rome Monument is just one of thousands of companies in the United States that manufacture products and provide services related to dying, burial and the end oflife for humans- and pets too.
This industry includes monument manufacturers and dealers such as Rome Monument. Other types of businesses in this industry include funeral homes such as Dignity Memorial, which is the consumer-facing brand name for SCI which is the largest funeral company in the United States. Service Corporation International (SCI) is a major supplier of deathcare products and services including funeral, cremation, and cemetery services. There are over 22,000 funeral homes in business in the United States.
Crematoriums and crematories are categorized as death industry businesses as are coffing manufacturers, cemeteries and memorial parks. Even pet cemeteries are included in this industry.
Published by The Buffalo News on December 31, 2018
As longtime owner and operator of his family business, Parker Komm created durable monuments and memorials for people all over Western New York. Those monuments now also stand as a public commemoration of Mr. Komm's life's work. "He did it all, from designing and creating memorials to installing them," said his son, Leon. Mr. Komm, is the "son" in the name of the venerable Leon Komm and Son Monument Company. In 1945, he began to work with his father at the monument company. In 1947, Leon Komm surprised his son with a new sign for the business that said "Leon Komm & Son Monument Co.," which indicated that he had been made a partner. After his father died in 1953, Mr. Komm and his wife became the owners and operators of Leon Komm and Sons. Some of Mr. Komm's best-known projects were the Italian Carrara marble statues made for the Roman Catholic Diocese, which were installed at the chancery on Lincoln Parkway and later moved to the Main Street offices; the Erie County plaque at what was then Rich Stadium in Orchard Park; and plaques commemorating Joe McCarthy, who was manager of the Yankees during the 1930s and early 1940s. The family business continues today, with Mr. Komm's son, Leon, and Leon Komm's son, Michael, as owners and operators.
A Nevada man faces five charges in Hancock County for allegedly scamming victims by selling them headstones that never arrived. Gary W. Bowsher, 59, of North Las Vegas, Nevada, was indicted by a grand jury this week on four counts of theft from a person in a protected class, a fourth-degree felony, and one count of petty theft, a first-degree misdemeanor.
In this video, Rome Monument shows you how to tell the difference between high quality mausoleum and low quality mausoleum design and construction. In addition to a superior, professional design, the quality of a mausoleum depends on such factors as the reputation of the granite quarry, the quality of the granite, foundation, base course, side walls, roof and joints, among other construction elements. Water is one of the most damaging influences for a mausoleum. Only a well-built mausoleum that is constructed with high grade granite from reputable quarries is likely to withstand the damaging effects of moisture and water. Of course, other environmental factors such as wind, temperature extremes, and high water tables can also play a role in the deterioration of a mausoleum. A quality built mausoleum can last for centuries – a poorly built mausoleum with inferior materials can start to deteriorate in just a few years. That’s why it is important to hire a mausoleum construction company that designs and builds mausoleums in accordance with strict mausoleum construction standards as set by local, state and federal law. This video also shows you how to order or purchase the highest quality, completely personalized private family mausoleums from a Rome Monument Showroom in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, or from your home anywhere in the United States. We start with a family consultation (pre-need is recommended) in which we discuss your personalized family mausoleum design. Through detailed CAD drawings, followed by architectural renderings, we fine-tune the mausoleum design plans so that our skilled monument craftspeople can present you with a mausoleum your family will absolutely love! Once designed and constructed, the mausoleum is delivered, assembled and installed in the cemetery of your choice. You can order, buy, purchase and commission a Private Family Mausoleum with any number of crypts in different styles, shapes, sizes, and price ranges. The following will give you a general understanding of family mausoleum costs.
Single Crypt Mausoleum Prices Start at $12,000
Two Crypt Mausoleum Prices Start at $23,000
Private Family Walk-In Mausoleums Start at $85,000
Chapel Mausoleum Prices Start at $180,000
Garden Mausoleum Prices Start at $200,000
To Inquire About Ordering a Private Family Mausoleum, call 724-770-0100 or email info@romemonuments.com.
Rome Monument is a mausoleum and cemetery monument design and construction company with headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Rome has been one of the country’s premier mausoleum builders since 1934.
Posted on November 19, 2018
Rome Monument completed the design, construction and installation of a two crypt mausoleum for Thomas C. Sandys (Born April 28, 1936) and Kathleen A. Sandys (Born April 9, 1940) of Maumee, Ohio. The high quality family mausoleum was built at the Rome Monument Artisan Center in Pittsburgh, PA and then transported to Resurrection Cemetery in Toledo, Ohio where it was installed. The cemetery is one of Toledo's largest and newest Catholic cemeteries. It sits on over 235 acres of land that features a 2 acre lake. The cemetery located on Hill Avenue is just a few miles north of Maumee, Ohio. The side-by-side two crypt mausoleum was built with jet black granite and features a flat roof. The double mausoleum (for two people) was set on a solid granite base course to keep water from entering the crypts. Two crosses were etched into the front of the mausoleum, above the couple's names. The private family mausoleum was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Sandys before their deaths. Their death dates have not been etched into the mausoleum. Rome Monument will provide on-site engraving after the death of each spouse. This type of 'pre-need' ordering and purchasing arrangement is becoming more popular with Rome Monument's mausoleum customers. Rome Monument offers a "Pre-Arranged Cemetery Monument Plan" allows individuals and families to plan and pay for their mausoleum prior to their passing.
Posted on November 19, 2018
Rome Monument recently completed the design, construction and installation of a two crypt 'side-by-side' mahogany color granite mausoleum for the McKinney family of Arkansas. Rome Monument built the mausoleum in Pittsburgh, PA and then transported it to the New Cemetery in Mulberry, Arkansas where it was set on a solid granite base course. The mausoleum, which features a granite gable style roof, memorializes Janice Sue Meador (January 1, 1952 - June 1, 2018) and Jerry Raymond McKinney (Born February 15, 1950). Janice McKinney was a member of the First Baptist Church in Mulberry and the owner of the Blossom Shop in Mulberry for 25 years.The couple was married on October 27, 1972 and their wedding date was inscribed into the front of the mausoleum. Another inscription on the mausoleum reads "Parents of Erin, Grandparents's of Destin, Halyn and Ashtyn". An etched cross and flowers also adorn the front of the two crypt family mausoleum.
Listed below are the 13 secrets of memorial engravers discussed in the article.
1. THERE IS NO "NORMAL."
2. THE PROCESS CAN TAKE YEARS ...
3. ... SO THEY OFTEN FEEL VERY CLOSE TO THEIR CLIENTS.
4. CLIENTS OFTEN TRY TO CRAM TOO MANY MOTIFS ON ONE GRAVESTONE.
5. FAMILY DISAGREEMENTS ARE A CHALLENGE.
6. A NUMBER OF THEIR CLIENTS ARE STILL LIVING.
7. THEY DON’T ONLY MEMORIALIZE HUMANS.
8. THEY’RE NOT ALWAYS CHISELING BY HAND.
9. YOU CAN BUY A MEMORIAL FROM WHOMEVER YOU WANT.
10. SOME DESIGNS CAN BE VERY ELABORATE ...
11. ... BUT THEY HAVE TO CONFORM TO A CEMETERY’S RULES.
12. CARS ARE A SURPRISINGLY POPULAR MOTIF.
13. WORKING WITH DEATH ISN’T ALWAYS SAD.
Dioguardi estimates that crafting a memorial takes around eight to 10 weeks at his company. You don’t have to leave your gravestone’s design up to the people who outlive you: You can choose something for yourself before you go. “It’s extremely common here,” Dioguardi says. It’s called “pre-need.” That way, there’s no guessing or arguing among your family members about what you might want—it’s already determined.
How your memorial is made depends a lot on who you commissioned it from. Lundgren doesn’t consider himself a stoneworker. He labels himself a designer, and says much of what he does is really graphic design. “Basically what you’re doing is creating line art,” he says. “Most engraving is not done [the] old-fashioned [way], like hand chiseled and chipped away. I’d say probably 99.9 percent is formatted on a computer, cut as a stencil, and then sandblasted and carved into the surface.” Dioguardi disagrees with that assessment. “A lot of consumers think this is all machinery-based,” he says, but not all firms rely entirely on stencils and computers. Rome Monument uses an automated sandblaster for lettering, but also uses chisels and other tools to create designs by hand. If a family comes in and asks for a gravestone with a rose on it, one of their sculptors will actually carve that rose into the stone freehand.
“Whatever that consumer can think of that they want to do, we can design it,” Dioguardi explains. That goes for the industry as a whole, not just his firm. “There’s a monument in Vermont that it’s a full scale Mercedes-Benz [made] out of a single block of granite,” he describes. The only thing that truly limits what kind of memorial you can design for your loved one is your budget— and your imagination.
Cemeteries do have some say over the type of memorial you install at your love one’s final resting place. “A cemetery is like a condominium association,” Dioguardi explains. While you may own the gravesite itself, there are still certain rules you have to abide by. Specific motifs typically aren't off-limits, but designs are often restricted by size, material, and sometimes even by color. These restrictions can even vary within cemeteries. In one cemetery Rome Monument has worked with, for instance, some areas are restricted to bronze monuments, while monuments in another section have to be granite. Recently, a customer called to inquire about buying a memorial for a family member, but didn’t know where in that cemetery they were buried. “We had to make a couple phone calls to the cemetery to find out where this family’s loved one was laid to rest so that we know what type of monument that we [could] design,” Dioguardi says.
The guy in Vermont who was memorized with a giant Mercedes-Benz sculpture isn’t a total outlier—a fair number of people ask to somehow incorporate cars or trucks. While many of Dioguardi’s clients request memorials that incorporate themes like faith, family, hobbies, and career, Lundgren says he’s created multiple memorials that somehow involve vehicles. “As depressing as it might sound to be a monument designer, it’s really amazing,” Lundgren says. While most aspects of dealing with the logistics of a loved one’s death are stressful and depressing, figuring out a way to memorialize them permanently is actually a positive process. “To be able to be that one person that can talk about beauty and art and legacy is really powerful,” he explains.
New Standalone Mausoleums Barred Statewide
Written by Andrea VanValkenburg for the Press-Republican, Published on October 3, 2018
PLATTSBURGH — In response to what lawmakers called "appalling" conditions at abandoned local mausoleums, a new law now bans construction of such standalone facilities across the state. Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury) and Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay) pushed for the legislation after witnessing the emotional and financial toll that resulted when the Whispering Maples Memorial Gardens mausoleums were allowed to deteriorate and go bust in the towns of Plattsburgh and Ellenburg. “The condition of these mausoleums was appalling,” Little said in a press release. She took an active role in touring the neglected facilities, seeking funding for their rehabilitation and spearheading the campaign for change in Albany. “It was a disgrace for those interred and heartbreaking for the families of loved ones," she said. "A tremendous amount of progress has been made to rehabilitate both facilities, costing taxpayers more than $2 million. "It had to be done and was obviously the right thing to do given the circumstance. But we need to make sure this never happens again.”
STUNNED BY BURDEN
Under state law, operating and maintenance costs for the two facilities were passed to local municipalities in 2015 after the two mausoleums, along with a crematory in Ellenburg, were declared abandoned by the state due to disrepair and inadequate revenues and funds to cover future obligations. The state ordered the towns of Plattsburgh and Ellenburg to assume responsibility for the facilities within their borders. Leaders in both towns were stunned by the unexpected burden, as they were handed the financial challenge of extensive repairs. The mausoleum on Tom Miller Road in Plattsburgh, with a total 1,488 spaces, and the one in Ellenburg, with 1,259 spaces, both needed new roofs and considerable work inside. The state justified declaring the facilities abandoned because:
The Whispering Maples Board of Directors failed to set aside adequate funds to cover the costs of pre-need (before death) sales of crypt markers and pre-need sales of rights of interment, with liabilities listed at $140,800 and $190,000, respectively, for a total of $330,800.
Financial assets as of June 1, 2015, totaling $296,974, were not adequate to cover pre-need liabilities, and the Permanent Maintenance Fund was also underfunded.
As well, the state said at the time, Whispering Maples had failed to repay loans it was allowed to make from the fund and hadn't made regular bank deposits, with a resulting liability of more than $200,000.
ABANDONED DUTIES
In late 2015, Town of Queensbury Cemetery Superintendent Connie Goedert became the court-appointed receiver in charge of the Whispering Maples facilities. The towns successfully sought to delay responsibility until the mausoleums were brought up to code, as the situation had developed while the state was in charge of oversight. With strong encouragement from Sen. Little, the state provided $2 million for repairs and renovations and $300,000 for perpetual-care costs. “The owners of Whispering Maples Memorial Gardens failed families and members of our community when they made the conscious decision to abandon their duties," Jones said in the release. "The legislation signed into law (this week) is crucial to ensuring that this does not cost taxpayers money in the future and that the memory of our loved ones will be respected and upheld.” Little and Jones said the new law will protect taxpayers and municipalities, as well as better ensure that those who have died will not have to endure a similar indignity, nor their loved ones the distress felt by families over the Whispering Maples situation. “The resting places of our loved ones should always remain well maintained and cared for,” Jones said.
'MORAL THING TO DO'
While mausoleums have proven successful as cemeteries as part of larger financial plans and as an additional burial option, standalone mausoleums have proven unsuccessful when constructed as a sole cemetery entity, lawmakers said. Plattsburgh Town Supervisor Michael Cashman applauded the collaborative local and state efforts to "right the wrongs of the past." At the mausoleum on Tom Miller Road, "the majority of the work has been completed," he said Tuesday. Both Cashman and Ellenburg Town Supervisor Jason Dezan advocated for change in Albany, sharing their experiences of how abandoned mausoleums can potentially devastate municipalities and loved ones alike. And, he said, "the general response was we have to stop this from happening again. "Those structures represent loved ones — grandparents, parents, children and veterans — of our community," he said, adding that fixing the mausoleums' deterioration "was the moral and ethical thing to do." Cashman applauded Little and Jones's efforts in banning future standalone sites "to protect future communities from this happening to them." Dezan didn't immediately return a call requesting comment. The law went into effect upon the signature of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Editor Suzanne Moore contributed to this report.
Famous Mausoleums
Posted on October 3, 2018 Wikipedia says that a mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb, or the tomb may be considered to be within the mausoleum. Some of the most famous mausoleums in the world include the Mausoleum of Augustus, Grant's Tomb, Lincoln's Tomb, Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Tomb of Cyrus, Hamilton Mausoleum, Palmer Chapel Mausoleum and the Lenin Mausoleum. If you want to see inside large mausoleums built for famous Americans, watch this video. Other famous mausoleums located around the globe include the Anıtkabir, Humayun's Tomb, National Pantheon of Venezuela, Qianling Mausoleum, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Castel Sant'Angelo, Tomb of Jahangir and Mausoleum of Genghis Khan. They are some of the most elegant pieces of architecture on the planet. The term “mausoleum” comes from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the grave of the King Mausolus, who was a prominent Persian ruler during the 4th century BC. Other notable and famous mausoleums include the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, Mausoleum of Hadrian, Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, Artigas Mausoleum, Imam Husayn Shrine, Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania, Mausoleum of Diocletian, Holy Cross Mausoleum, Bourguiba Mausoleum, Mausoleum of the Shirvanshahs, Shah-i-Zinda, Great Pyramid of Giza, Terracotta Army and the Taj Mahal. Rome Monument of Pittsburgh is one of the leading mausoleum designers in North America. The company produced a video that showcases large fancy mausoleums styles designed and built as monuments for the entombment of famous Americans. You can view pictures of the free-standing stone buildings and look inside these famous family mausoleums. You can even find out how these famous tombs and interment spaces were designed and constructed, how much it cost to build these historic mausoleums, and what it costs to build a beautiful private family mausoleum in 2018. Rome Monument, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a mausoleum designer, construction company, contractor and builder with over 80 years of experience as a design/builder of private family mausoleums. The company builds single, 2 person, and family/estate mausoleums for 3 or more interments for both traditional and cremation burials. Mausoleums are free-standing cemetery buildings that contain the grave, tomb or burial chamber of the deceased. A large mausoleum can also incorporate other elements, such as a chapel or a niche for cremated remains. Our mausoleums can be adorned with beautiful custom designs, etchings, engravings, bas reliefs, statues, 3D carvings, and symbols and imagery that convey the specific nationality or religion of the deceased.
Excerpt: A rule change at the Veterans Affairs Department will allow veterans to apply for burial in national cemeteries before their death, rather than requiring family members to apply on their behalf after it. Veteran burial benefits previously were approved at the "time of need." For families, that meant waiting until after the veteran died to apply for the benefits via fax or email by sending in a copy of the veteran's DD-214 or separation documents and then following up by phone. The rule change instead allows veterans to be approved for burial in a VA national cemetery "pre-need," or before death, through a form submitted by fax, email or mail. The form can be filled out by the veteran or by someone else on his or her behalf. More than four million people are buried in VA cemeteries. More >
Social Platform Is Announcing Deaths Through Funeral Home Partnerships
Posted on September 28, 2018
Death announcements created with Everdays app, which launched on September 20, 2018, assist family members manage and communicate the news of a loved one's passing. It also helps other users stay update about deaths within their social circle. Everdays is promoting a dashboard that funeral homes use to create and send obituary infor to their customers via a text message or email. About 1,000 funeral homes use the web based system. The new mobile app takes the process a step further. Everday is used to send funeral messages, funeral invitations and to preplan for a funeral. The clever app guides people through the process of sending funeral messages or funeral invitations.
Personalize a monument, gravestone, grave marker or cemetery memorial with your loved one’s favorite Bible verse, stanza of poetry, song lyric, catch-phrase or life’s motto. If you and your family are having a difficult time deciding what epitaph or wording to have inscribed on your loved one's memorial, please read the examples below for ideas. Listed here are commonly used epitpahs which you can see on the actual memorials and monuments if you peruse our "Design Gallery." Military headstone inscriptions frequently include abbreviations that denote the branch of service, war service and awards. The ranks included the Air Force, Army, Army Air Corps, Army Air Forces, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Merchant Marines and Navy. Click here for a list of the most commonly inscribed abbreviations placed on Government-furnished headstones and markers. If you are at a loss for words and would prefer to have some assistance, feel free to call the main Rome Monument office in Rochester, PA at 724-770-0100 and ask for Vince Dioguardi or Chris Morgan. Either of these compassionate gentleman will be happy to help you with this emotional process.
View Pictures Of Headstone Endearment Phrases, Verses, Sayings and Epitaphs For Cemetery Monuments
Written by Matt Ballard
Published by The Daily News (Batavia, NY) on August 27, 2018
Posted Here on September 5, 2018
ALBION — the final tour of Mt. Albion Cemetery this summer was Aug. 26, travelling a path across the western end of the cemetery. Over the last several weekends, I found myself intrigued by the visual representations of social and cultural changes throughout the cemetery.
The earliest sections of the cemetery are characterized by a lack of uniformity, whether one looks at the varying size of lots, the random distribution of lot numbers, or the diverse styles of monuments. As one travels into the “newer” sections of the cemetery, lots are set out in uniform size, orientation, and cemetery monuments appear more similar to one another.
While preparing for these tours, I stumbled across excerpts from a Sears, Roebuck & Company catalog for marble cemetery monuments. An individual could purchase a headstone of modest size at a cost of $7 to $8, plus additional rates for lettering and shipping. A later catalog distributed in 1906 provided prospective customers with samples of granite monuments, a relatively new business venture for the company.
One particular example from the catalog is reminiscent of some larger stones found within Mt. Albion. The “Art Renaissance” model is similar in style to that of the Alfred Skinner monument, although the ornamentation is far simpler with the catalog model. Customers could choose from several different sizes, running anywhere from $100 (or $2,768 with inflation) for a 4 foot 10 inch tall monument weighing 1,800 pounds to $312.30 (or $8,638.00 with inflation) for a 9 foot 2 inch tall monument weighing 11,680 pounds.
Production for a monument of this size required 12 weeks from quarry to cemetery, which included cutting the stone, lettering the face, and shipping by railroad. Typical lettering costs for granite ran anywhere from 12 to 72 cents per letter and customers could select typeface ranging in size from one inch to six inches in height. For raised lettering, prices ran anywhere from 45 cents to $2.78 per letter ranging in size from one inch to 8 inches. Old English, German, Gothic, and ornamental lettering would cost customers nearly double the price of traditional fonts, so an individual could easily spend more than the cost of the stone itself when adding text depending upon the length of names, dates, and epitaphs.
Although standardized mail-order monuments were an option, many people preferred individualized monuments that displayed the artistic talents of local monument dealers.
A particular memorial, standing upon lot 879 and paid for by Elizur Kirke Hart, is perhaps one of the most stunning and ostentatious monuments in the entire cemetery. Designed by Charles Diem of Albion in 1879, the large granite monument cost Hart roughly $7,900. Although the total amount spent on the memorial would run upwards of $236,000 today taking inflation into account, the artisanship and labor required to replicate such a beautiful piece of art would likely require double that amount at minimum. The monument stands upon an 8-square-foot base of granite with an eight-foot tall statue of “Hope” resting on top.
The statue stands as a symbol of the virtue of hope — the desire and expectation of receiving something. In relation to cemetery symbolism, this often reflects hope for eternal happiness and divine union. Hope is one of seven Heavenly Virtues including Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Justice, Temperance, and Prudence; Faith, Hope, and Charity (or Love) are considered the three Theological Virtues.
Held in her left hand is an anchor, a traditional Christian representation of hope as it often represented safety. In the Catholic tradition, the anchor is symbolic of the execution of St. Clement of Rome by Emperor Trajan, who was tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea.
In this depiction, Hope is dressed in a stola, the female counterpart to the Roman toga, with her right hand over her breast as a representation of faith. In other depictions, her index finger points to the sky as a representation of the path to heaven.
A similar, smaller statue stands upon the gravesite of David Jones and James Whitney near the Soldiers & Sailors Monument. On that particular example, the large anchor rests at Hope’s feet with a chain attached.
Charles Diem was also responsible for a number of other strikingly beautiful monuments throughout the cemetery including the marble tablets found within the Soldiers & Sailors Monument, the large bald eagle draping a mourning cloth over the monument of Col. Robert H. Graham (just west of the tower), and the stunning marble baldacchino that stands on the Sanford E. Church lot. Of course, Sears, Roebuck & Company could not replicate the beauty and complexity of these monuments.
This video takes you on a virtual flythrough tour of an historic cemetery with its wide and wonderful diversity of cemetery monuments, headstones, gravestones, and statues. You’ll discover that a headstone can say so much more about the deceased than just the name, birth date and death date.
What should a headstone say? It should say how much one loved in life and how much one was, and still is, loved by family. It can convey one's accomplishments, the hobbies and pastimes they participated in, the sacrifices they made for their country, the faith they shared, and so much more. A monument says whatever you want it to say, and it speaks through its personalized design elements.
What goes into a cemetery monument design? You can personalize any cemetery monument with artwork, etchings, engravings, symbols, emblems, and photographs that convey one’s passions, faith, or accomplishments – even the shape of a monument can be an expression of love and remembrance. Beautiful words make a headstone appear more beautiful and give it more meaning. Add personal inscriptions, epitaphs, bible verses, quotes, and headstone sayings that express one’s love, hope, and prayers for a spouse (“An Angel Shining in Heaven”), wife (“Gardening in Heaven”), husband (“Those who knew him could not help but love him”), father (“The Influence of a Father Upon His Children Lives Through Generations Forever”), mother (“Your Smile, Love And Heart Will Be Missed Forever”), parents (“Together Forever”), or other family member (“Sweet Dreams Little Angel”). A qualified cemetery monument maker can help you decide on a design for your monument and craft a work of art that exceeds your expectations and touches the hearts of all who view it.
How would you like to be remembered? How would you like to remember a loved one? Watch this video to see how Rome Monument can help you make your cemetery monument a beautiful expression of what you want to remember and what you want to be remembered for…forever.
Written by by Matt Gephardt and Cindy St. Clair and Published By KUTV On February 2nd 2018
Posted Here On August 6, 2018
(KUTV) After a long history of consumer complaints, the Ogden based monument company, Etched in Stone, is closed. It is a company on which Get Gephardt has reported several times before. One such report came in 2014, after Debbi Kartchner and Sheila Garcia each demonstrated how the headstones they had purchased were not delivered by the contractually promised delivery date. Etched in Stone is also no stranger to state regulators. Utah's division of consumer protection fined the company $6,000 last December for violating the Consumer Sales Practices Act. “This is the third action the division has taken,” DCP Director Daniel O’Bannon says. "We've seen a pattern and that's why we took action.” Etched in stone has been on the division’s ‘buyer beware’ list since 2007 for having not paid previous citations. Now, at Ogden City Hall, city officials have revoked Etched in Stone’s business license, effectively forcing the company to shut its doors. Etched in Stone appealed the suspension to the Ogden City mayor's office but to no avail. In a letter to the company obtained by Get Gephardt, Mayor Mike Caldwell wrote, "I agree with the basis for such suspension and therefore, decline to modify or reverse the administrative order." Mayor Caldwell also specifically referenced the action taken by the Division of Consumer Protection in his letter. In 2015, Etched in Stone Owner Wallace Burnside granted Get Gephardt an interview when we showed up at his office. Burnside did not return a call or text message for this story and, Friday afternoon, no one answered the door at the office. Through the window, the office appears to be cleaned out and the back and side areas that once housed dozens of slabs and stones were vacant. According to the order suspending Etched in Stone’s business license, Burnside can reapply for a business license after April 30, 2018. Update: in the hours after this story was broadcast on 2News, Burnside responded, stating that he is insolvent and is closing his business. He blames state and city regulators as well as the news media for his businesses failings. Via text message he wrote, in part, “I will miss my customers who's custom art I have loved creating. However I will not miss the self-important bureaucrats or news media who made it their un-appointed agenda to harm my business through relentless propaganda and by inventing multimedia reports against my character! The result being that it only caused further delays by drying up my finances; putting me even further behind. Free enterprise deserves the incentive & privacy to achieve, without the hobbling bias, accusations, and hindrances caused by these narcissistic people. The self-aggrandized media and local governance has, yet again, overstepped where they were not invited, by spreading rumor and fear among the public. Thus, etched in stone design has been injured!”
GRANDVIEW, Wash. -- His name is Tim Morris, but they call him Cemetery Tim. He’s the “Whoop! Whoop!” guy. You don’t know the “Whoop! Whoop!” guy? Let us introduce you. Morris sells headstones from his office in Grandview. He ships headstones all over the country and gives away free headstones during Facebook Live videos. He created the Facebook page for his business on May 29, 2017. That’s when they started calling him Cemetery Tim. “I would name a winner for headstone giveaway and I would clap and say, ‘Whoop! Whoop!’” Morris said recently as he stood at Lower Valley Memorial Gardens outside the city. “Someone called me and said, ‘You don’t realize you’re saying whoop whoop all the time.’” So he was and so he does, more than ever. He has nearly 500,000 likes on Facebook, and those followers embrace it, praising his headstone designs and thanking him for helping people during difficult times. God bless you, they say amid dozens of comments on each of his posts, along with #CemeteryTim and #WhoopWhoop and variations of each. “I put myself in other people’s shoes. ... Make it about the families. You’ve got to help them,” Morris said. “I’ve lowered my pricing a lot because I want to help the families.” He’s a cheerleader for his business, just like any good businessman. But Morris is also a booster of the Lower Valley in general. He and Gloria Mendoza, founder of the GMC Training Institute and a member of the Grandview City Council, co-founded Lower Valley Business Connections in January to unite Lower Valley cities and promote being loyal and buying local. The organization’s first town hall meeting takes place at 6 p.m. June 11 at 801 Grandridge Road, Grandview. It’s open to the public and will feature several leading Lower Valley business people in what they hope will be the first of many fruitful discussions. “The idea is to start investing in our Lower Valley community, in partnering with one another, staying to buy local, do business local,” Mendoza said. “Tim’s very passionate about that. He is very passionate about the Lower Valley and just giving back to his community. ... He really lives what he preaches.” Morris leads and participates in fundraisers for people in need, such as the eight children of Maria Gonzalez-Castillo, who died in June 2017. Her husband, Jaime Alejandre, is accused of killing her and remains in jail; his trial is set for August. And Morris is passionate about recognizing veterans. He and Command Sgt. Maj. Ramon M. Dang Sr. of the Yakima Training Center are working together for a three-piece headstone at the grave of Staff Sgt. Jack Pendleton, the only Medal of Honor recipient buried in Yakima County. Dang raised $9,038 through a GoFundMe account and Morris designed the memorial, which he hopes to set this summer. An ebullient guy in a business that could wear down the most positive of people, Morris loves his job and loves where he lives. “There is no place like the Lower Valley,” he said. Helping families - Morris has run his headstone design business for about three years, starting it from scratch after managing the Memorial Gardens for about three years. He enjoyed overseeing cemetery operations but decided he wanted to work for himself. After working at a variety of jobs for most of his 44 years, Morris has found a keeper. “I found something I’m truly passionate about — helping families,” he said. “That keeps me motivated. That keeps me on track.” Born in Yakima, Morris grew up in Seattle, where he moved at age 2 with his mother when his parents divorced. His mom, Phyllis Kroum, was born in Sunnyside and grew up in Toppenish. His grandmother, Mary Layman, ran the popular Maria’s Restaurant in Parker for years. “I never knew what I really wanted to be growing up,” said Morris, who’s single. He has a younger brother, Zach, 31, who is a corrections officer at the state penitentiary in Walla Walla and an Army veteran who served in Iraq. Their mother retired from the U.S. Postal Service and lives in Richland. His first “real” job was in food service, at Cafe Recess in Seattle, he noted in a Facebook post. “I was the busser, prep cook, dishwasher and everything else for $3.35 an hour!” Morris wrote. During summer vacations, they would return to the Yakima Valley to reconnect with relatives. After high school, Morris continued in the service industry or sales of some kind. He has sold insurance and worked in construction and real estate, among other jobs, before returning to the Valley for good in 2012. While a businessman, he also sees himself as a community leader. “I just go from the heart. I dibble and dabble in all kinds of things,” Morris said. “I use my voice as much as I can for things I can stand behind.” Dang likes his dedication to his work and his causes. “He is a very responsive guy. That’s the reason why I trusted him with another project I had,” said Dang, who found Morris on Facebook. He designed a plaque for the training center gym to honor Army Capt. Aaron Blanchard, a Selah native who died in a 2013 rocket attack on his forward operating base in Afghanistan. Dang showed it to Morris, who had it cast in bronze with color. The plaque went up in April. “The entire family was appreciative of it,” Dang said. “It’s like we were cut from the same cloth when we got hooked up together. As much as I want the stuff to get done the right way, he is the same way.” A name and a story - Pausing at the grave of 1-year-old Isabella Orozco, Morris talked about the process of creating her headstone. Isabella died after being struck by a car in the Sunnyside Walmart parking lot in March 2017. “What we came up with is a diamond etch of Isabella’s photo. ... This is all done by hand, it’s not done by machine,” Morris said. “We have an artist that actually takes a diamond etching tool; he’ll set the photo next to where he’s going to do the etching and he’ll just start shading. ...” “On top of that, we were able to take it one more step and add color. We added pink and blue to her hat ... a little brown for the fur on her jacket,” he added. “Just a beautiful little girl and a great, great family.” Once headstones are designed, a large fabrication shop in Seattle crafts them. “I’m really proud of this one,” Morris said softly at the gravesite of Angel Gabriel Mendoza. Known as Gabby, Mendoza died in a car accident in November 2015. He was a junior and honor student at Granger High School. “It’s all done by hand. This took a good 40 hours to make,” Morris said of the large flat granite rectangle etched with images of Mendoza at different ages against a background of wheat. A tall cross in matching black granite towers over the flat stone. “It was the largest funeral I’ve ever seen. There were lots of family and friends that really loved this guy,” he said. Headstones range in price from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. Even with layaway, it’s a big financial commitment. Still, “I think everybody should have a headstone. Everybody should have something with their name and some kind of story,” Morris said. The headstone giveaways help make that happen. He’s given away about 110 headstones since he created the Facebook page, he estimated. Families sometimes just need a break, Morris said. In February, Morris traveled to Dallas, where he placed a donated headstone at the gravesite of Hector Escobar Jr. Vandals had destroyed Escobar’s grave in 2015. Relatives spoke with a local television station about their hopes of placing a new customized stone there, and word got all the way to Cemetery Tim. “The poor guy’s grave was torched. I ... selected that family, flew down there and hand-delivered it,” Morris said. Mendoza met Morris at a business social and initially thought to herself, “That’s got to be an interesting job,” she said. Soon she was impressed. “As I started hearing his story and seeing the work he’s doing in the Lower Valley to get families to talk about death — that’s not an easy subject to talk about,” Mendoza said. “He does such a nice job about making it an approachable subject.” She thinks his low-key approach as demonstrated on his Facebook page is a big reason for his success. “He is always giving back. I think that’s the reason he is doing so well getting followers. People know that he cares,” she said. “He will get in a plane and go to New Mexico to personally deliver a headstone. “If that’s not commitment, I don’t know what is. He’s wonderful.”
Mausoleum Design Plans
07/19/18
Rome Monument builds poured-in-place concrete mausoleums, granite mausoleums and precast mausoleum buildings. Rome Monument drafts mausoleum design plans using CAD software and present these drawings and renderings to clients for approval before beginning construction. Click here to see a preliminary family mausoleum construction design plan made using a CAD program. The mausoleum construction drawings produced by Rome Monument submitted to clients include precise dimensioned architectural plans, structural plans, electrical plans and mechanical specifications. Click here to view pictures of mausoleums designed and built by Rome Monument. Rome Monument designs and constructs one crypt mausoleums, two crypt mausoleums and family mausoleums. Rome Monument uses a CAD program to create blueprints, sketches, scaled renderings and drawings for every mausoleum we construct. The details in these files give clients the ability to refine and approve every aspect of the mausoleum construction project. The Rome Monument mausoleum designers, Vince Dioguardi and Chris Morgan provide expert consulting services to clients so that they understand the mausoleum blueprints and essential mausoleum design concepts. Advice is provided regarding the customer's cemetery and plot selection. The mausoleum design plans are also used to provide additional information related to the costs of mausoleum construction. Rome Monument also designs columbarium and estate memorials. For elaborate multiple crypt mausoleum construction projects, Rome Monument provides precise detailed and dimensioned structural, mechanical, electrical and architectural plans to the customer for analysis, discussion and approval.
As for burial markers with incomplete death years, the Association for Gravestone Studies says they are fairly common. The Greenfield, Mass.-based group explores cemetery markers for historical and artistic perspectives. Vince Dioguardi, co-owner of Rome Monument, based in Rochester, Pa., is a little more skeptical. “Does it happen? Absolutely,” he said. “I don’t know that I’d agree that it’s all that common.” The issue got extra attention 17 years ago, as pre-engraved headstones with death years beginning in 19 henceforth needed to start with 20. Mr. Dioguardi said he’s seen his share of terrible looking “patch and cut” jobs, even a few cases of duct tape and markers. One AGS member in Vermont said she found a marker with the death date, “1999 + 2.” Typically, it costs about $150 to add the last two digits to an incomplete death year, Mr. Dioguardi said, including finishing the earlier work of another monument company. Gravestones remain incomplete for a number of reasons. The surviving spouse named on a pre-engraved headstone gets re-married and is buried with the new partner. The person moves away, as Florence did. Family feuds, indifference and insufficient funds are also factors.
Penn Hills council has decided to move its monument honoring the municipality’s fallen police officers to the site of a new municipal building that will be located on Duff Road. Council’s decision on Feb. 5 came after an emotional discussion of whether the monument would be moved to the new $12.3 million municipal building — on the site of the former Penn Hebron Elementary School — or would be situated at the site of the current municipal building on Frankstown Road after it is torn down. Fallen police officers’ family members were among those to make their views known. The new municipal building, which will house police and EMS and include a firefighter training area, is scheduled to be completed this summer. Erected in 1973, the monument is dedicated to the memories of Penn Hills police Sgt. William Schrott and Officer Bartley Connolly, who were killed in the line of duty on March 25, 1972. After Officer Michael Crawshaw was killed while on duty on Dec. 6, 2009, the memorial was expanded in 2010 and includes an engraved granite marker in his honor. Before council made its decision, Mayor Sara Kuhn outlined a plan that would keep the monument at its present location as part of a memorial town center with a pavilion and walking path. “This monument is to remind us that some of those who protect and serve, are killed needlessly,” the mayor said. “The location was not an oversight. When it was determined that the frontage of the new building had to be reduced, we realized that the site is no longer acceptable for the monument’s relocation.” Because of the sloping terrain, the location of the new building was changed. Therefore, there were fewer options for the monument’s location. “There is no leaving the fallen officers behind. The plan is to make a memorial park to remind everyone of their sacrifice,” Mrs. Kuhn said. The mayor’s proposal elicited no support among council meeting attendees, which was full of the fallen officers’ family members, co-workers and friends. Representatives of the families of Sgt. Schrott and Officers Connolly and Crawshaw said they believe the monument must be relocated to the site of the new police headquarters. “I cannot understand why no one reached out to the families, that they didn’t consider our wishes. This has opened a deep wound,” said Joanne Alexander, the daughter of Sgt. Schrott. “You may think it has been many years, but the pain does not lessen. The only acceptable solution is to move the monument. We feel that by leaving the monument at the present building, it will be forgotten. “We want it to be where present-day officers will not forget their fallen brothers. We feel there is a suitable location at the new building.” As Ms. Alexander showed Mrs. Kuhn a map of the new site, Penn Hills police Officer John Debasi gave council another perspective. “Some officers tonight were presented with certificates, but these men [Schrott, Connolly and Crawshaw] and their families made the ultimate sacrifice.” John Diogardi, representing Rome Monument, offered to do the relocation for free. “You’ve got a beautiful story. You’ve got our support,” he told council.
The Fight for the Right to Be Cremated by Water
07/02/18
"Aquamation," a greener form of body disposal, is gaining acceptance in America. But some powerful groups are fighting to stop it. The process also uses about 300 gallons of water per body, or three times as much as the average person uses in a day. And while replacing cremation with aquamation would have some climate benefits, they wouldn’t be as huge as, say, getting rid of coal-fired power plants—which is perhaps why there are no large environmental advocacy campaigns to change the death care industry. Processes like aquamation require an acceptance of becoming part of it. If more people respect the planet in death, it bodes well for how they’ll treat it while they’re still alive.
It’s a fact, nobody is getting out of this life alive. What’s controlable is where and how remains will be laid to rest. Burial space has closed at three of the the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs-run National Cemeteries in North Carolina though Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Jacksonville has space available. In Eastern North Carolina, the landscape is dotted with grave sites from a small burial plot on the edge of a farm to large scale, commercial enterprises where thousands of people are buried or housed in mausoleums. Large scale commercial operations such as Onslow Memorial Park outside Jacksonville on U.S. 258 and Seaside Memorial Park in Swansboro have combined more than 11,000 grave sites filled with room for expansion. Opened in 1952, Onslow Memorial Park is an oasis off a busy highway with gravesites covered with flowers and a second mausoleum in the works. Some in the industry feel the rising cost to embalm and bury a person in a casket is moving people to cheaper alternatives.
When a large headstone got knocked over, Grove Cemetery in New Brighton, PA didn’t have the people, equipment or money to fix it and needed some help. The memorial for a man named Yee — a highly regarded doctor buried in Beaver County’s Grove Cemetery in 1979 — was found knocked over. Rome Monument fixed Dr. Yee’s monument in Grove Cemetery for free.
02/04/18
Read an overview of the death care industry in the United States along with news, companies, trends, statistics, industry forecasts, research, memorial products and funeral services.
In 2013, Rome Monument was proud to coordinate the design, placement and engraving of the Tuskegee Airmen Monument located in the Sewickley Cemetery. Dedicated in September, the Tuskeegee Airmen Memorial, it is the largest outdoor memorial in the country honoring the first African-American military pilots and support staff who were members of the 332nd Fighter Group, nicknamed the “Red Tails.” Almost 100 members of the World War II unit were from western Pennsylvania and their names are carved on two of the four granite monuments that make up the memorial. The other two monuments contain the history of the elite military group and one, a 10-foot-high piece, features an airplane tail sculpted from red granite, representing the origin of the unit’s nickname.
Rome Monument tries extremely hard to give back to the local communities in Western PA. In 2015, Rome Monument volunteered its services to help clean the 200 headstones defaced with red paint in Riverview Cemetery in Kiski Township. A local newspaper published a story titled 'Miracle' product undoes grave marker damage in Riverview Cemetery explained the project. "Before we came in, we weren't sure it was going to work,” said John Dioguardi, retired owner of Rome Monuments. “Everything we have ever used never worked this well.” He said one benefit is that the product is not affecting the darkening agent used on the lettering. It's not leaving a ghost mark where the red paint was. “So what's happening is it's returning to what it looked like before,” Dioguardi said. “It's a miracle.”
This video takes you on a virtual flythrough tour of an historic cemetery with its wide and wonderful diversity of cemetery monuments, headstones, gravestones, and statues. You’ll discover that a headstone can say so much more about the deceased than just the name, birth date and death date.
What should a headstone say? It should say how much one loved in life and how much one was, and still is, loved by family. It can convey one's accomplishments, the hobbies and pastimes they participated in, the sacrifices they made for their country, the faith they shared, and so much more. A monument says whatever you want it to say, and it speaks through its personalized design elements.
What goes into a cemetery monument design? You can personalize any cemetery monument with artwork, etchings, engravings, symbols, emblems, and photographs that convey one’s passions, faith, or accomplishments – even the shape of a monument can be an expression of love and remembrance. Beautiful words make a headstone appear more beautiful and give it more meaning. Add personal inscriptions, epitaphs, bible verses, quotes, and headstone sayings that express one’s love, hope, and prayers for a spouse (“An Angel Shining in Heaven”), wife (“Gardening in Heaven”), husband (“Those who knew him could not help but love him”), father (“The Influence of a Father Upon His Children Lives Through Generations Forever”), mother (“Your Smile, Love And Heart Will Be Missed Forever”), parents (“Together Forever”), or other family member (“Sweet Dreams Little Angel”). A qualified cemetery monument maker can help you decide on a design for your monument and craft a work of art that exceeds your expectations and touches the hearts of all who view it.
How would you like to be remembered? How would you like to remember a loved one? Watch this video to see how Rome Monument can help you make your cemetery monument a beautiful expression of what you want to remember and what you want to be remembered for…forever.
Social Platform Is Announcing Deaths Through Funeral Home Partnerships
Posted on September 28, 2018
Death announcements created with Everdays app, which launched on September 20, 2018, assist family members manage and communicate the news of a loved one's passing. It also helps other users stay update about deaths within their social circle. Everdays is promoting a dashboard that funeral homes use to create and send obituary infor to their customers via a text message or email. About 1,000 funeral homes use the web based system. The new mobile app takes the process a step further. Everday is used to send funeral messages, funeral invitations and to preplan for a funeral. The clever app guides people through the process of sending funeral messages or funeral invitations.
Listed below are the 13 secrets of memorial engravers discussed in the article.
1. THERE IS NO "NORMAL."
2. THE PROCESS CAN TAKE YEARS ...
3. ... SO THEY OFTEN FEEL VERY CLOSE TO THEIR CLIENTS.
4. CLIENTS OFTEN TRY TO CRAM TOO MANY MOTIFS ON ONE GRAVESTONE.
5. FAMILY DISAGREEMENTS ARE A CHALLENGE.
6. A NUMBER OF THEIR CLIENTS ARE STILL LIVING.
7. THEY DON’T ONLY MEMORIALIZE HUMANS.
8. THEY’RE NOT ALWAYS CHISELING BY HAND.
9. YOU CAN BUY A MEMORIAL FROM WHOMEVER YOU WANT.
10. SOME DESIGNS CAN BE VERY ELABORATE ...
11. ... BUT THEY HAVE TO CONFORM TO A CEMETERY’S RULES.
12. CARS ARE A SURPRISINGLY POPULAR MOTIF.
13. WORKING WITH DEATH ISN’T ALWAYS SAD.
Dioguardi estimates that crafting a memorial takes around eight to 10 weeks at his company. You don’t have to leave your gravestone’s design up to the people who outlive you: You can choose something for yourself before you go. “It’s extremely common here,” Dioguardi says. It’s called “pre-need.” That way, there’s no guessing or arguing among your family members about what you might want—it’s already determined.
How your memorial is made depends a lot on who you commissioned it from. Lundgren doesn’t consider himself a stoneworker. He labels himself a designer, and says much of what he does is really graphic design. “Basically what you’re doing is creating line art,” he says. “Most engraving is not done [the] old-fashioned [way], like hand chiseled and chipped away. I’d say probably 99.9 percent is formatted on a computer, cut as a stencil, and then sandblasted and carved into the surface.” Dioguardi disagrees with that assessment. “A lot of consumers think this is all machinery-based,” he says, but not all firms rely entirely on stencils and computers. Rome Monument uses an automated sandblaster for lettering, but also uses chisels and other tools to create designs by hand. If a family comes in and asks for a gravestone with a rose on it, one of their sculptors will actually carve that rose into the stone freehand.
“Whatever that consumer can think of that they want to do, we can design it,” Dioguardi explains. That goes for the industry as a whole, not just his firm. “There’s a monument in Vermont that it’s a full scale Mercedes-Benz [made] out of a single block of granite,” he describes. The only thing that truly limits what kind of memorial you can design for your loved one is your budget— and your imagination.
Cemeteries do have some say over the type of memorial you install at your love one’s final resting place. “A cemetery is like a condominium association,” Dioguardi explains. While you may own the gravesite itself, there are still certain rules you have to abide by. Specific motifs typically aren't off-limits, but designs are often restricted by size, material, and sometimes even by color. These restrictions can even vary within cemeteries. In one cemetery Rome Monument has worked with, for instance, some areas are restricted to bronze monuments, while monuments in another section have to be granite. Recently, a customer called to inquire about buying a memorial for a family member, but didn’t know where in that cemetery they were buried. “We had to make a couple phone calls to the cemetery to find out where this family’s loved one was laid to rest so that we know what type of monument that we [could] design,” Dioguardi says.
The guy in Vermont who was memorized with a giant Mercedes-Benz sculpture isn’t a total outlier—a fair number of people ask to somehow incorporate cars or trucks. While many of Dioguardi’s clients request memorials that incorporate themes like faith, family, hobbies, and career, Lundgren says he’s created multiple memorials that somehow involve vehicles. “As depressing as it might sound to be a monument designer, it’s really amazing,” Lundgren says. While most aspects of dealing with the logistics of a loved one’s death are stressful and depressing, figuring out a way to memorialize them permanently is actually a positive process. “To be able to be that one person that can talk about beauty and art and legacy is really powerful,” he explains.
In this video, you’ll learn about 100% personalized, custom cemetery monuments and the unlimited design possibilities for a family member’s eternal resting place. You’ll see examples of headstones by Rome Monument with unique sizes, shapes, granite colors and artwork. And you’ll follow the story of the “Elephant on the Tomb”, an upright headstone that actually has a sculpted elephant sitting right on top of a granite slab! Click here to see personalized headstones with pictures.
Typical headstones, tombstones, gravestones, monuments and memorials are carved granite slabs or molded bronze markers placed at the head of a grave with an individual’s, or several related individuals’ names, birth and death dates, and an engraved message. Headstone designs are usually chosen from a third party catalog at a monument company, cemetery, or funeral home and include limited options for shape, size, color, and artwork. Popular symbols include religious images representing the Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Orthodox and other religions, traditions, and faiths.
Rome customers, fortunately, don't choose cookie cutter, template monuments from competitors’ catalogs. Our personalized memorials are built according to your individual requirements, desires and specifications. This means the shape, size, granite color, etchings, engravings and funerary artwork are one-of-a-kind and totally unique to your family. No-one will ever have the same monument. In addition, each personalized headstone design is individualized with exclusive adornments and special touches to meet the needs and situation of each family.
Rome Monument has designers and artisans on staff who will create a monument just for you…and just the way you want! For four generations, Rome Monument has been creating memorials and monuments using a variety of artistic styles for cemetery markers, headstones, monuments, statues, mausoleums, and other types of memorials for families in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and Western Pennsylvania. We are frequently called on to design memorials that use symbols, designs and imagery as well as custom artwork created by the families themselves with the help of our monument designers. Along with your personal epitaphs and inscriptions, these designs are skillfully hand etched, laser etched, engraved, or carved into your monument.
Rome designs and fabricates custom cemetery monuments that reflect the passions of the people memorialized: a hobby, their faith, their religion, sports, career, military service, outdoor scenes, flowers, angels, hearts - even a car or motorcycle. The choice is yours.
This video also shows you how to order or purchase the highest quality, completely personalized cemetery monument from a Rome Monument Showroom in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, or from your home anywhere in the United States. We start with a family consultation (pre-need is recommended) in which we discuss options for your personalized monument design. Through detailed CAD drawings, followed by architectural renderings, we fine-tune the monument design plans so that our skilled monument craftspeople can present you with a personalized monument your family will absolutely love! Once designed and constructed, the monument is delivered, assembled and installed in the cemetery of your choice.
You can order, buy, purchase and commission a totally unique, completely personalized cemetery monument with the style, shape, size, and artwork you desire, at a price that is no more than what you pay another monument company, funeral home, or cemetery. That’s because we eliminate the middleman. Here are some ballpark prices for different types of monuments:
Flat Headstone Designs: from $300
Upright Headstone Designs: from $600
Single Crypt Private Family Mausoleum: from $15,000
Two Crypt Mausoleum: from $23,000
3 Crypt Mausoleum: from $28,000
4 Crypt Mausoleum: from $35,000
5 Crypt Mausoleum: from $40,000
6 Crypt Mausoleum: from $45,000
7 Crypt Mausoleum: from $50,000
8 Crypt Mausoleum: from $55,000
9 Crypt Mausoleum: from $60,000
Walk-In Mausoleum (2-4 Crypts): from $85,000
Walk-In Mausoleum (6-8 Crypts): from $145,000
Estate Walk-In Mausoleum (12-16 crypts): from $350,000
Chapel Walk-In Mausoleum: from $180,000
Garden/Outdoor or Sepulcher Mausoleums: from $200,000
To Inquire About Ordering a Completely Personalized Cemetery Monument, Headstone, Gravestone, or Mausoleum, call 724-770-0100 or email info@romemonuments.com.
In this video, you’ll learn about 100% personalized, custom cemetery monuments and the unlimited design possibilities for a family member’s eternal resting place. You’ll see examples of headstones by Rome Monument with unique sizes, shapes, granite colors and artwork. And you’ll follow the story of the “Elephant on the Tomb”, an upright headstone that actually has a sculpted elephant sitting right on top of a granite slab! Click here to see personalized headstones with pictures.
Typical headstones, tombstones, gravestones, monuments and memorials are carved granite slabs or molded bronze markers placed at the head of a grave with an individual’s, or several related individuals’ names, birth and death dates, and an engraved message. Headstone designs are usually chosen from a third party catalog at a monument company, cemetery, or funeral home and include limited options for shape, size, color, and artwork. Popular symbols include religious images representing the Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Orthodox and other religions, traditions, and faiths.
Rome customers, fortunately, don't choose cookie cutter, template monuments from competitors’ catalogs. Our personalized memorials are built according to your individual requirements, desires and specifications. This means the shape, size, granite color, etchings, engravings and funerary artwork are one-of-a-kind and totally unique to your family. No-one will ever have the same monument. In addition, each personalized headstone design is individualized with exclusive adornments and special touches to meet the needs and situation of each family.
Rome Monument has designers and artisans on staff who will create a monument just for you…and just the way you want! For four generations, Rome Monument has been creating memorials and monuments using a variety of artistic styles for cemetery markers, headstones, monuments, statues, mausoleums, and other types of memorials for families in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and Western Pennsylvania. We are frequently called on to design memorials that use symbols, designs and imagery as well as custom artwork created by the families themselves with the help of our monument designers. Along with your personal epitaphs and inscriptions, these designs are skillfully hand etched, laser etched, engraved, or carved into your monument.
Rome designs and fabricates custom cemetery monuments that reflect the passions of the people memorialized: a hobby, their faith, their religion, sports, career, military service, outdoor scenes, flowers, angels, hearts - even a car or motorcycle. The choice is yours.
This video also shows you how to order or purchase the highest quality, completely personalized cemetery monument from a Rome Monument Showroom in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, or from your home anywhere in the United States. We start with a family consultation (pre-need is recommended) in which we discuss options for your personalized monument design. Through detailed CAD drawings, followed by architectural renderings, we fine-tune the monument design plans so that our skilled monument craftspeople can present you with a personalized monument your family will absolutely love! Once designed and constructed, the monument is delivered, assembled and installed in the cemetery of your choice.
You can order, buy, purchase and commission a totally unique, completely personalized cemetery monument with the style, shape, size, and artwork you desire, at a price that is no more than what you pay another monument company, funeral home, or cemetery. That’s because we eliminate the middleman. Here are some ballpark prices for different types of monuments:
Flat Headstone Designs: from $300
Upright Headstone Designs: from $600
Single Crypt Private Family Mausoleum: from $15,000
Two Crypt Mausoleum: from $23,000
3 Crypt Mausoleum: from $28,000
4 Crypt Mausoleum: from $35,000
5 Crypt Mausoleum: from $40,000
6 Crypt Mausoleum: from $45,000
7 Crypt Mausoleum: from $50,000
8 Crypt Mausoleum: from $55,000
9 Crypt Mausoleum: from $60,000
Walk-In Mausoleum (2-4 Crypts): from $85,000
Walk-In Mausoleum (6-8 Crypts): from $145,000
Estate Walk-In Mausoleum (12-16 crypts): from $350,000
Chapel Walk-In Mausoleum: from $180,000
Garden/Outdoor or Sepulcher Mausoleums: from $200,000
To Inquire About Ordering a Completely Personalized Cemetery Monument, Headstone, Gravestone, or Mausoleum, call 724-770-0100 or email info@romemonuments.com.
Browse pictures of 1 crypt mausoleums, 2 crypt mausoleums, private family mausoleums and stately walk-in mausoleums in this PDF guide. Learn how Rome Monument designs and builds elegant mausoleums using high quality granite, impeccable construction standards and old world craftsmanship. Get an understanding of the customization and ordering processes. Learn about high-grade granite, mausoleum foundations, base courses, architectural options and landscaping considerations.