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Most consumer goods have a predictable lifespan. Grave markers and tombs are built to last the test of time, and for the past 35 years E&L Granite and Monument has built its reputation for products and services that insures repeat business from satisfied families and a recommendations that bring in new clients.
“It’s pretty simple what we do,” E&L co-owner Leonard Scott said as he offered a list and photo example of the markers, tombs, vases and statues his company offers, in addition to inscriptions, tomb construction and repair services.
Scott began his career in the monument industry working part-time with gravestone craftsmen Oris and Ray Chaisson while simultaneously employed at the Southdown Plantation sugar mill before it closed in 1979. “I was working over there at the nighttime and over here in the daytime,” he said. “I started as a stone finisher.”
Eventually Scott mastered the craft of lettering and designing lasting tributes and became owner of the business.
Deloris Kramer and her daughter Cindy Loney are among the customers that that have come to Scott based on the recommendation of others. They wanted to purchase a vault and marker for the cremated remains of Kramer’s husband, Chester Kramer, and eventually herself. “Just don’t put my name and a date on it yet for me,” Kramer instructed the monument maker. “I plan on being here awhile.”
Scott estimates he will have 500 to 1,000 customers a year. “The actual building and engraving work itself is the most challenging part of this job,” he said, “but I get to go back 30 years later and say, ‘This is what I did.’ It will be there longer than me.”
Monument construction can range from small projects being completed in one day to larger orders placed that can take a week or more to finish. Prices also vary from approximately $250 for a small marker to $200,000 for a multiple tomb structure with benches and other adjacent features.
Grave markers are nothing new. For centuries various styles of markers have been placed on graves of the dead by the living as a tribute to friends and loved ones.
Archeologists have discovered grave markers dating back more 2,000 years in many locations around the globe. Grave markers often reflect cultures and time periods.
The Victorian period saw an emergence of lavish designs on personalized grave markers of marble and granite, which often included ornate structures accompanied by sculptures, iron fences surrounding the gravesite, and lengthy inscriptions.
Over the years, ornate grave markers in many parts of the world gave way to lawn level stones, making maintenance easier for cemetery keepers, but some would argue having taken away an element of cemetery personality.
However, in south Louisiana, where above ground graves tend to be necessities because of high water tables, greater options in constructing grave markers persists
As in many professions, technology has had its influence with tools used for accuracy and ease of monument making and reduced in numbers the artisans, like Scott, that continue to do their work by hand.
“I got a profession I like, and I still need a job,” Scott said. “I’m 66 and I built [this business] from the ground up. At least I know what I do will be here for a while.”
E&L Granite and Monument co-owner Leonard Scott shows customers Deloris Kramer and her daughter, Cindy Loney, a selection of monuments that best fit their desire. Monuments and tombs Scott has designed and built range in price from $200 to $20,000.
