Cemetery Monuments

Cemetery monuments must meet the standards of the specific cemetery. These standards may allow enormous, ornate sculptures or may limit each marker to a small, engraved block of granite or metal placed into the surface of the ground rather than atop it This is usually to allow a large lawnmower to work quickly.

In selecting a monument within the cemetery standards, thought should be given to the preferences of the deceased as well as to modern tastes. At a minimum, each grave should show the name and birth and death year of the deceased.

Some monuments now contain portraits or photographs of the deceased. Companies are even beginning to make available electronic recordings of the voice of the deceased which may be played by people visiting the grave.

It is generally considered inappropriate for a monument to tell the cause of death, unless it was a particularly worthy one such as a military person, police officer, or fire fighter killed in the line of duty. A small flag may be engraved on the monument of a person killed in combat.

The lengthy scriptural quotations and weeping angels of past centuries are no longer considered appropriate, but if the deceased particularly wanted such a monument and both finances and cemetery standards permit, those wishes should be honored.