Welcome to the debut post in our new "Rock On" blog where we'll be providing regular updates, tips, sales and more. We hope to utilize this to answer frequently asked questions, explain the process, show various options and so much more. If you have something you'd like us to mention here, please send us an email and let us know.
History
Our company was founded in 1977 by Charles and Lottie Newsome Martin and the original location was actually across the road from our current office. They both started in the monument business in 1966 and learned the craft from Lottie's parents and grandparents who were lifelong monument professionals in neighboring Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Their son Ken and his wife Jane took over the business as fourth generation stonemasons. Over the years they upgraded equipment taking advantage of new technology in the monument industry which helped increase the amount that could be created in our shop over a shorter period of time.
In 2010, Jonathan was employed by two local funeral homes where he met Ken and eventually began selling monuments as a dealer. Fast forward several years and Ken hired Jonathan and trained him in designing, engraving and installing the various products offered. Jonathan and his wife Shanon purchased the business and officially took over operations on April 1, 2023. Shanon manages the office and handles the majority of all sales transactions. She also designs monuments, assists in the shop and has been trained for installations. Jonathan oversees the design and production processes in the shop, inventory management, engraving of death dates and also manages and schedules installations and assists in the cemetery when required.
A Little About Us Personally
Jonathan grew up in Lunenburg County, Virginia and Shanon grew up in Nottoway County, Virginia. We currently reside in Victoria, Virginia with our two children Jonathan and Miranda. When not at the office you will find us supporting our son courtside during a basketball game and our daughter who is a cheerleader and actively participates in gymnastics. You will also find us up and down the East Coast at various beach music events as Jonathan is co-owner of Flip Flop Live and Flip Flop Live Radio and he was previously lead guitarist for the Feature Attraction Band.
Our Future Goals
We look forward to working with you to create the perfect tribute and we strive to provide and friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We will never try to sell you a product, instead we prefer to show you examples and advise what's available. We help you throughout the design process, offer guidance when needed and you're able to choose how simple or elaborate you'd like to go with your design. We welcome you to stop by and see us, introduce yourself and we hope when the time is right, you choose us to design your monument. We're adding new options and items bringing new offerings to our families including burial, cremation, pet and digital items. We have numerous dealers and funeral homes throughout Virginia and Northern North Carolina offering our products to their families and we look forward to continuing this relationship.
