Frequently Asked Questions

The first thing to focus on is the funeral. It must be planned and paid for, or at least a plan needs to be made for payment. You should look through all the available records to see if there was a prepaid funeral contract. This may be kept with or near a will or estate planning file. The deceased may even have left instructions about what kind of funeral or other service he or she might want. You should look for this information.

The right time to order a memorial is a very personal decision.

Some families chose to select the memorial at the same time they are making funeral arrangements. Generally speaking this is not the ideal time to select a memorial due to all the sorrow and grief families are  going through at the time.

It is best to take some time to make this lasting and important decision, it's a decision you'll hopefully have to make only once in your lifetime.

Some families chose to have their own arrangements for a memorial made prior to their death, in order to relieve their loved ones of the decision later on. This is referred to as pre-need purchasing, and it is very common in our industry. 

Realistically there is no right or wrong answer to this question, it is a very personal decision based on your specific family's situation. 

An appointment is not always necessary, but to ensure that we can give you the attention you deserve it doesn't hurt to call ahead or set up an appointment, so we can make sure that a representative will be in office when it is most convenient for you.

There are a few interchangeable terms to refer to headstones. These include gravestone, marker, memorial, monument, and tombstone.

We pride ourselves in our ability to personalize each and every memorial. When you sit down with one of our design specialists, they can help you design a very meaningful and personal memorial. We have thousands of design options to chose from, or we can accommodate your special requests in order to truly recreate your vision.

Each cemetery has their own rules and requirements for what size and type of memorials they will allow. 

Some restrict the color of granite that can be used for example, and others only allow bronze memorials. We will work with you to determine what is allowable for your cemetery, and what will look best on your grave site.

Before any work is put to stone, a paper proof is put together so the customer can see what the finished product will look like. This is so you can verify all spelling and dates to ensure that no errors are made. Once it's on the stone - it's there forever!

The simple answer, is that it depends on the severity of the winter.

Generally speaking, we do install monuments in the winter weather permitting. If the memorial has no foundation installed before winter, it usually will not be set until it is the appropriate temperature to install a foundation, if it is too cold out the concrete will not bond correctly potentially leading to issues down the line.

Outside lettering however, is put off until springtime.

We deliver and set all of our own monuments. There are services available to do this for us, however we know that hte appearance of a monument in the cemetery is the final result of our labors and the proof of our abilities. 

The most beautiful monument can look terrible if it isn't set properly. The lasting beauty of a monument over the years has much to do with the techniques used in the setting process. This is not the time for shortcuts and haphazard methods. 

In short, we have seen the work others do, and we are not impressed. We specialize in the setting of all types of memorials from flat markers to mausoleums all across the USA.

Earl Wenz Inc. has been in business since 1847, and we stand behind our work 100%. All workmanship is guaranteed to be of the utmost quality.

 There are many variables that will influence the cost of your memorial. Since most memorials are fairly customized, it is almost impossible to give a general price for same sized monuments. Choices include size, color, carving or etching, finish, and the amount of lettering. These will all effect the price of your monument. Estimates can be given upon request, but cannot be determined until all variables have been discussed and decided upon. Even the cemetery where your monument will be erected will influence the cost as each cemetery has set fees they charge for the foundation. Please contact us for details. 

 Earl Wenz Inc. specializes in making memorials. We have our own manufacturing plant and do our own work. We are experts in the field of memorials, having been in business since 1843. 

While a cemetery may be convenient, it does not specialize in memorials and often charges far too much for the quality of memorial you receive. We can provide the expertise to design an appropriate memorial for you, and we offer a complete selection of designs and colors.

We are in our 6th generation and can show our family's work from the mid 1800s and how it has stood the tests of time.

The material used for stone monuments is quarried from beneath the earth’s surface. Huge blocks of stone are cut from cliffs of the quarry and jolted from the ledge with a dynamite charge, then lifted to the surface by cranes. Once at the factory, these blocks are sawed into slabs, polished, then broken in selected sizes for monuments and markers. Carving and lettering is done using a combination of sandblasting and hand sculpturing. 

No. Granite and other stone material come out of the earth in varying quality grades. The quality grade (i.e. A, B, C grade, A being best) is determined by several factors. Some of these factors include the stone's overall appearance, color and pattern consistency, mineral content, and density. 

Etching is usually done on black granite. This is because the process used to create the etch is simply scratching, or removing the polished surface of the stone, revealing the lighter, natural color of the rock underneath. The image that is seen in an etch is visible because of this contrast of the dark polished surface and the lighter stone color underneath. 

It is true that many of the older monuments are hard to read. This is because of the material that was used plentifully at the time they were erected. Marble and limestone were readily available and easy to cut because they are relatively soft, compared to granite. The industry has learned over time that this material does not weather as well as granite. As a result, granite has become the material of choice for monument manufacturing. 

 In most cases it takes approximately 8 to 12 weeks to produce an average monument. This includes providing a proof for approval. On in-stock items the time of production is usually less. Sometimes we are able to accommodate rush orders on simple jobs. 

 Outside work is very dependent on variables not within our control such as weather. We try to complete all lettering requests within a timely fashion, sometimes within 6 to 8 weeks. This includes getting rubs of the existing lettering so that we can duplicate size and style of letters to match.