Procuring memorial monuments is one the cremations services in Washington Township, MI that people use after cremations. A memorial monument can be used at a grave where cremains are buried or in an urn garden.

As the rural cemetery movement spread during the 19th century in America, cemeteries became the first public parks. They were designed to be places of beauty and art where people could gather for outings or to stroll through the spacious, well-maintained grounds. As a result, there are many beautiful memorial monuments in cemeteries across the United States.

One of these is the Taylor Monument at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA. The eye-catching sculpture that sits on top of the graves of J. Hartley and Nettie Barbara Taylor shows a man with a bow who is protecting a woman and a child from danger.

The Angel of Death Victorious (also known as the Haserot Angel) at the Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, OH sits on top of the family tomb of Frances Haserot, a very financially-successful merchant. It was created by Herman Matzen in 1923. A winged angel was a common symbol of death for funeral sculptures throughout the 1800’s and into the early part of the 1900’s. As time has oxidized the bronze in the sculpture, it has left the effect that the angel is weeping.

President Chester A. Arthur died from a massive cerebral hemorrhage, two years after leaving office, at the age of 57. He was buried with his wife, Ellen, who died from pneumonia in 1860, and whom President Arthur mourned the rest of his life. Ellen’s grave at the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, NY was adorned with an almost life-sized Angel of Sorrow, who appears to be shrouding the grave.

The headstone covering the Luyties family grave at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, MO is also known as “the girl in the shadow box.” A bigger-than-life granite arch, with decorative scupting, contains a woman inside, appearing to look down onto the grave. Herman Luyties fell in love with one of the models of an Italian sculpture and commissioned the memorial stone in her honor. He proposed to her, but she declined. Luyties, still in love, had the memorial stone shipped to St. Louis, where he kept it in his home. In time, Luyties had the memorial stone moved to the family grave. He encased it in glass to protect the woman he loved from the elements. When he died at the age of 50, Luyties was buried at her feet.

The Elks Tumulus (French for burial mound) is located at the Greenwood Cemetery in New Orleans, LA. This is not only an unusual grave monument, but it is also an unusual grave. The mausoleum, which has a sculpture of an elk standing on top of it to watch over those inside, is a final resting place for a national fraternal society known as the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks. The entrance door has a clock that is permanent set to 11:00, which is the Hour of Recollection among Elks, a time when they toast the memory of friends who are not there.

For additional information about cremations services in Washington Township, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI 48044, or you can call us today at (586) 412-8999.