Monuments & Memorials
Monuments – A Special Place of Remembrance
Every day there are grieving families and friends who have lost loved ones and are choosing ways to memorialize their loved one with personalized Monuments and Memorials. This is an extremely important part of the funeral planning and grieving process. It becomes a meaningful choice that serves as an everlasting impression, specifically designed to honor and dignify the life of a loved one lost.
A Memorial is a way for the living to remember those who have passed away and understand this loss through the actual words and images that are engraved on Monuments or Gravestones. The Monument, which is also referred to as a Headstone or Gravestone, is the actual physical marker that rests above the burial grounds of a loved one. So as you can imagine, choosing Monuments and Memorials can be a very important decision that requires a careful thought process for families.
When the funeral services are completed, the Memorial and Monument or Headstone will remain a physical remembrance of that loved one for decades to come. They will serve both the living and the deceased on multiple levels. For the loved ones left behind, Memorials offer a helpful way to focus during such difficult grieving. These specially chosen words and images will direct families to see and feel more positive thoughts, memories, and feelings. They provide comfort that their loved one is in a better place, and can also serve as a reminder that someday they will be reunited.
When choosing a headstone or grave marker, it is important to know the cemetery rules. This can save you from making mistakes that could delay your order. The biggest factor in selecting a headstone is the balance between cost and value. Luckily, there are plenty of choices.
Monument Materials
- Bronze grave markers are very popular and their use is growing. Many modern memorial parks only allow bronze to be used because it creates a uniform appearance and makes the grounds easier to maintain. The person’s name and dates are cast onto a bronze plaque which is then given a protective coating
- Granite, one of the hardest materials on Earth, offers a large variety of colors and grains that create interesting patterns. Therefore, it is the most popular type of memorial marker. (Please note that Cemeteries often have color and size restrictions, so be sure to check prior to placing your order.) The deceased’s name and dates are engraved onto the stone by sandblasting. If the stone is ordered as part of a pre-need package, the final date will added by sandblasting on the stone when needed and is usually done on-site at the Cemetery. Types of granite headstones:
» Grave Markers:
Also called Flush or Grass Markers
» Bevel Markers:
Similar to Flush Markers only slanted up between 6″ and 8″ higher
» Two Piece Tablet and Base (Upright Headstones):
These generally consist of two separate pieces: a vertical tablet and a granite base. The tablet sits on the base and they are generally caulked or epoxied together using stainless steel pins
» Slant Markers:
These come in two general types: Western style and Slants with Nosing. The face on the Western Style is polished down to the bottom of the marker and the Slants with Nosing, the bottom of the polished face is cut perpendicular on the bottom few inches up from the ground
» Family Plot Monuments:
Large upright headstones used for entire families. Usually the family name is engraved with footstones placed for each deceased family member
» Grave Ledgers:
These memorials cover the entire cemetery plot and are generally 3’ x 7’ and can be 4” or 6” thick. Larger verses, poems, sayings, etc. can be memorialized on Grave Ledgers where they often will not fit on upright monuments
Monument Design
The most important aspect of choosing a headstone or grave marker is the design. It is also one of the more difficult and personal decisions to be made in funeral planning. Families often want the monument to be a memorial to the deceased’s particular personality and characteristics. The deceased’s name and life dates will be carved in stone or cast in bronze on the headstone. Other information may be considered but remember to accommodate individual cemetery size restrictions. Keep it simple or make it elaborate to reflect the person who is being memorialized.
If the space is available, a ceramic picture may be added to the headstone. It is now possible to have a copy of an original photograph added to the headstone. You may also want to add an epitaph which can be a bible verse or some lines from a favorite poem or song. Keeping in mind the theme of the headstone, you may want to create your own or use one already created that suits your deceased loved one. You can borrow from existing epitaphs and some people even use sympathy cards to get ideas for a special endearment.
Today, there is a wide array of design possibilities that can be used to create a meaningful headstone. The various motifs can include scenic, religious, and floral themes as well as emblems, symbols, and custom artwork. Memorial Designers are trained to help families integrate the various ideas using graphic art, special typefaces, and arrangements to help you create a personalized memorial that accurately refelcts the life of a loved one.
Monuments usually include the name and life-dates of the deceased. They also can include an epitaph of carefully chosen words from family and loved ones, and which can be carved in three separate ways:
1. Laser-Etched Headstones: An artist, using a computerized etcher, or by hand, etches into the granite, piercing the polished surface. This usually allows for more detail than the sandblasting technique, and pictures or other artwork can also be duplicated to near-photo quality. Generally darker granites are used for this method but on lighter colored granites, a black granite inlay can provide the necessary natural contrast to allow laser or hand-etched images to remain durable with minimum maintenance.
2. Sandblast Design Headstones: A stencil is cut and taped to the headstone and the design and letters are sandblasted into the granite. A memorial designer/artist can adapt this process to any color of granite. Sandblasting is the most common method of carving granite memorials since it creates the highest contrast and requires the least maintenance.
3. Hand-Carved Designer Headstones: An artisan, by hand, carves full round statuary or bas-relief images into the granite to create a more three-dimensional appearance.
Three Monument Options for a Military Funeral:
1. Upright Monuments. These headstones are 42” long, 13” wide, and 4” thick, and are available in marble or granite. All hardware is furnished with the headstone; however, the government does not furnish a base.
2. Flat Monuments: The flat bronze marker is 24” long, 12” wide, and ¾” rise. Again, all hardware is available for fastening to a base but the base is not included. The flat granite and marble grave markers are 24” long, 12” wide, and 4” thick
3. Bronze Niche: This marker is 8 ½ “long, 5 ½” wide with 7/16” rise. All hardware is included.
Due the summer of 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs is designing a medallion to be attached to an existing privately purchased headstone or marker to commemorate the deceased’s veteran status. You can request that this new product be supplied in lieu of a traditional Government headstone or marker to any veteran that died on or after Nov. 1, 1990, and whose grave is marked with a privately purchased headstone or marker. Eligible veterans are entitled to either a traditional Government-furnished headstone or marker, or the new medallion, but not both.
Our Preferred Provider
Quiring Monuments, Inc.
How do you find a meaningful gravestone for my special loved one? Many memorials today are just meaningless grave marking devices. Today they can be much more than just the name and dates with a nondescript flower roughly carved into a stone.
It all starts with the thoughtful compilation of particularly appropriate symbols and graphic elements. Together with the proper typeface and maybe a photo of the deceased, it is then artistically carved into the highest quality granite to minimize maintenance and preserve contrast and beauty for centuries to come.
Quiring Monuments, Inc. crafts persons have over 400 years of combined experience, enabling them to create a remarkable gravestone for your loved one. Their family-owned company designs and carves unique upright monuments, monubenches, headstones, cremation memorials and even pet markers that have been placed in cemeteries throughout the world. In fact, they have won many international design awards and have also been featured on the History Channel, in the Wall Street Journal and even on the Paul Harvey radio show.
Just as each person is one-of-a-kind, each one of the headstones crafted by Quiring Monuments, Inc. can be customized via a complimentary consultation you can have with one of their Memorialization Experts. From that personal discussion, they will provide you a free preliminary drawing that will get the process started.