The first thing that has to be established is “What will your cemetery allow?” This is determined by your particular cemetery’s rules and regulations. Your Funeral Director or Keystone representative can provide you with this important information before the selection process begins.
In general, most smaller cemeteries will not have many restrictions on memorials. Many of the larger cemeteries and memorial parks will have strict guidelines based on the section your plots are in and the number of graves you own. Please have your lot information ready when you ask your Funeral Director or Keystone representative what your specific cemetery’s regulations are. Knowing what your cemetery requires is necessary before moving on to the selection/design phase.
Listed here are the various types of memorials we offer. All of our memorial types are available in sizes to fit single or multiple grave lots.
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Lawn Level Marker
This type of memorial will sit flush with the ground level. |
Bevel Marker
This type of memorial is slightly higher in the back than the front resulting in an angled top.
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Slant
A slant has a steeply angled front allowing the inscription to be visible from a distance. |
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Monument
This is the traditional tablet and base memorial. A larger surface area than the previous options allows for more design possibilities.
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Bronze Marker
This cast bronze, flat marker is usually mounted on a granite base. This type of memorial will be installed flush with the ground. |
Bench Memorial
This unique concept memorial is wonderful for reflection at a gravesite. Benches are capable of holding cremains and can be inscribed.
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Crypt
This above ground interment option can be personalized like any other memorial.
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Mausoleum
A private family above ground interment option, usually for multiple interments.
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Cremation Memorial
Various styles and sizes available.
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Custom Shapes
We offer a wide variety of beautiful, unique custom shaped memorials. Ask your Funeral Director to see our custom shape catalog for more ideas. |
Civic or Religious Dedications
We are able to customize a memorial for any situation or location. Suitable for dedications, recognizing donors, civic organizations, religious institutions and schools.
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Granite Colors
Here is a small sample of our most popular granite color choices for your memorial. We at Keystone Memorial Company use only top quality granite.
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Barre Gray |
N. Am. Pink |
Blue Gem |
Keystone Red |
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Canadian Select |
Impala Black |
Mahogany |
Jet Black |
Design Options
Here are a few of the design options you may want to consider when designing your memorial.
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Polished top - a standard memorial has a rocky top and ends. You can have the top of the memorial polished for a finished look. |
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All sides polished - all five sides of the memorial are smoothed and polished, giving the memorial an elegant look. |
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Flat carved design - all of our memorials include one of our standard flat carved designs at no additional charge. Flat carving results in a two dimensional image.
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Shape carving - to add a more lifelike, three dimensional look to your memorial we can shape carve any flower/leaf combination. |
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For an even more detailed carving, we can sculpt flowers and reliefs into your memorial. |
Standard artwork options
Your Funeral Director or Keystone representative is equipped with over 100 standard design cards for you to select from. This wide array of designs has something for everyone, from religious to floral designs and everything in between and is included in the cost of your memorial.
Custom artwork options
You are not limited to our standard designs. We can customize your memorial to depict any image that expresses your tastes and lifestyle.
A scene is artwork geared for lighter color memorials. The process produces a line drawing type of design.
A custom etching is available for darker granite. The artwork is highly detailed and realistic.
Adding portraits to customize your memorial
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The portrait shown above has been custom etched directly into the granite. The image is highly detailed. |
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Shown above is a porcelain cameo. It can be attached to any memorial and provides a photo quality image. |
Your memorial can be further personalized with an epitaph outlining important aspects of a life. Epitaphs can be anything you can imagine. From Bible verses and prayers to song lyrics and poems, we can add anything that is important to you.
Some popular examples of epitaphs:
Beloved Husband and Father (Wife/Mother)
Military service information
Wedding dates
Together Forever
Always in our hearts
The Memorial Approval Process
We provide you with an opportunity to revise and approve your memorial before it is completed. Below is the process we follow.
A drawing is sent to the family based on selected design and inscription.
The family requests a change, for example,adding a cross with flowers and changing the date layout.
A new drawing is sent to the family showing changes and asking for a signature if all is correct.
Once we have the family’s approval, the memorial is completed according to the final drawing.
Approval drawings are available for granite memorials. Bronze memorial drawings are optional and available at an additional charge.
What can you expect once your memorial order has been placed?
As soon as we receive your memorial order we will work with the cemetery to order the concrete foundation. Completion time of the foundation can vary widely due to the cemetery’s procedures and the weather.
In about two weeks you will either be contacted by your Funeral Director or receive in the mail a scale drawing of the memorial you have selected. This is your opportunity to review the design and inscription. Please make sure everything is as you want it before signing it and sending it back.
Once we have your approval, we will complete the production of your memorial. Approximate turn-around times are as follows:
Standard, flat carved memorials in Barre Gray or N. Am. Pink granite – 10 weeks
Standard, shape carved memorials -12 weeks
Sculptured designs, duplicate memorials, custom artwork , or Mahogany, Canadian Select, Impala Black, Jet Black, Blue Gem, Keystone Red granites– 12-14 weeks
Custom imported shapes – 18-20 weeks
The above turn-around times are approximate and we do everything we can to stay within the estimates. Some things that can affect the completion time are:
Delays with cemetery permit signatures
Multiple design or artwork revisions
Cemetery foundations not being completed
Periods of inclement weather
Once the memorial is complete and the cemetery foundation is installed, we will install the memorial. You will be notified when this has been done by either your Funeral Director or Keystone representative.
Guarantee
Quality – Service – Craftmanship Guaranteed
Our guarantee is the finest in the area. We stand behind all of our work from the moment an order is placed to any future time. Our memorials are fully guaranteed to be free of any imperfections. The reason we can make such a promise is because we purchase from the finest quarries all over the world. We further guarantee that the memorial will not crack or disintegrate.
Our guarantee does not cover bronze memorials or vandalism.
Each trained and certified Keystone Memorial Company Dealer is equipped with all of the tools
necessary to help you in designing your memorial. You will be able to browse our design cards,
photos of memorials and actual granite samples so you can be fully informed throughout the process.
We hope that you have found the information in “The Last Gift” helpful.
Keystone Memorial Company, together with your Funeral Director, strives to provide you with quality workmanship and personalized customer service. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or to request additional information.
Please visit our Testimonial pages to hear what our customers have to say about us.
