Cemetery Walks

By John Face

July 8, 2024

Photos by John Face

I often walk at Albion, Michigan’s Riverside Cemetery. I have a hobby of reading headstones to learn about the people there and admire the unique headstones. This past weekend, as I visited my grandparents, John and Francis Bartell, I heard an odd noise and decided to check on the origin of the sound.

Jumping in my car, I made the short drive to the source. I found a gentleman along with his work truck with assorted tools all over the ground. It didn’t take me long to figure out what the noise was and what he was up to—he was engraving on a headstone.

I was like a kid at Christmas. I had never seen anyone doing this before and was really excited. I introduced myself and asked for some pictures, which he agreed to. We talked for a few minutes, and I discovered his name was Robert St. John from Homer Monuments. He was there, adding the year of death to a small headstone. He said it was a beautiful weather day, and wanted to get up and do this.

I told him what he does is an art and must be a declining field of expertise. He agreed, saying many don’t do this anymore. He enjoyed doing the job. With his tools all over the ground, I quickly exited to visit my Yorkey grandparents, only to hear the grinder whirling away from the front of the cemetery. The cool things we see at Riverside.