Harrisville Memorials was established in 1968.

Owners Jim and Jennifer Robinson have worked hard to maintain the tradition of quality and compassion by setting a high goal, which is stated best in our slogan: “For Much More Than a Monument.”

We have a commitment to help families custom design a monument that reverently and beautifully expresses the life of their loved one.

When you come to Harrisville Memorials to buy a monument, we carefully walk you through the process of selecting your memorial. We are there to work with you from beginning to end, helping you choose a style of memorial in granite, marble or bronze, providing preliminary drawings and proofs before a single cut is made in the monument.

We work with the cemetery officials to be sure that all cemetery rules and regulations are met, and do all the leg work for our families when contacting cemeteries and ordering concrete foundations.

No foundation hole is dug without first contacting the cemetery to be certain of placement. When a cemetery does not install its own foundations for memorials, we install the foundations. All of our foundations are hand dug, using extreme care to be sure that the hole is sound with a square bottom and straight sides to prevent failure of the foundation from the weather over the years.

A common saying around our office is: “We enjoy our work the first time, but not if we have to do it twice.”

A good foundation is vital to the longevity of a memorial in a cemetery.

Technology and a wide variety of imported granites have made possible monument designs that have changed the look of the traditional memorial. Granite is now being imported from Africa, India and China, opening a wide variety of color and various engraving techniques.

The use of computers has made it possible to take pictures and replicate them exactly on surface of the memorial. So a precious memory, a favorite place or a beloved face is preserved in the granite memorial for many generations to see.

This process is called an etching, which is produced by a laser or by an artist’s hand, is most commonly used in dark granite colors.

The availability of technologies has not changed the quality or commitment to more traditional designs and granite colors. There are many beautiful granite colors that are quarried in the United States: gray from Vermont, mahogany from the Dakotas, black from Pennsylvania, and red from Wisconsin.

An outdoor display at our office to give each customer a chance to see a variety of colors and design options.

At Harrisville Memorials we offer a warranty on the domestically produced granites from the Barre Guild Association of Barre, Vermont. The association is a century old group of granite memorial manufacturers which attests to the outstanding quality of every crafted memorial.

Once a memorial is delivered and set in the cemetery, the work is not always finished. Harrisville Memorials offers several cemetery services.

The first is lettering. This could entail adding a special epitaph or a date of death. This can be done at the cemetery with no need to remove the memorial.

The second is cleaning of memorials. Over the years memorials can begin to look dirty or moss covered. With a special cleaning solution and gentle washing, a memorial can look almost new.

Finally, over the past several years a need to reinstall older memorials in cemeteries has become more prevalent. This process involves carefully removing the memorial from the foundation, removing the foundation and pouring a new concrete foundation. Then the memorial is set back in place.

Not only does this process spruce up the cemetery but it also helps preserve history.

Come visit Jim and Jennifer at our display at 111 Kern Lane in Harrisville and experience first-hand our professional guidance in helping families select the style of memorial that appropriately expresses their feelings and sentiments.

This article was submitted by Harrisville Memorials.