Honoring a grave.

C

Chucktin

Member
Location
East Central Fla
I visited the family plot while on vacation and my sister and I agreed that we need to put a headstone on it. Several family members are buried there so it'll be a large stone. Anyone have experience they could share on dealing with purchase and placement of headstones? Prices, rules, hints on dealing long distance with engravers, etc.
I've never done this before so I have only a vague, and apprehensive idea of what I'm in for. Also it came as a surprise to us that the cemetery _didn't_ insist on proof of kin-ship.

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Due to a sickness I had the exact thing happen mother got sick and dad did not want to do it with out her, so it did not happen the next day after dad passed I took care of it, it went very easy for me, they did not ask for ID from me either, I used the funeral home that did the services. They did ask me afterwards to visibly check that all was ok after stone placed. I visit it often.
 
It costs $ for stone, by size and then $/letter for engraving, I think?

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Each cemetery will have rules about what is acceptable. The cemetery will also have a fee for installing the foundation. The local stone salesman should have that information and coordinate the installation of the foundation with the delivery of the stone.

Do some checking before you buy, the prices and the quality of the materials vary greatly from one business to another. It's one of the businesses where some people are buying more than a stone due to love, guilt, respect, etc... and some of the salespeople take advantage of that. Once you find what you are looking for don't be afraid to haggle a little to get the price down.

If the stone you are buying will have the names of some folks who are still living the funeral home or the cemetery can arrange for the final date to be added to the stone when they pass. In my area the stone cutter comes to the cemetery a couple times a year and does all of the dates that have been requested over the previous few months.

In our family plot the old timers went with one good sized stone with our last name on it. As people are added to the plot a small granite flush marker is purchased with the name and dates. The last granite marker I bought was for me and it cost about $800.00. That was a little bit high but I wanted a thicker dense stone due to the cold winters in my part of the country.

Good luck!
 
The last internment in the plot was (yikes!) last century. Doubtful there'd be more there. But we are looking at a stone large enough for 9 names - GF, GM, Father, Uncle, Aunt and 4 babies. And yes doing this long distance we will have to rely on the cemetery and it could be a money pit.

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