Crane Memorial Company, 1152 E Midlothian Blvd, Youngstown, OH 44502, US

John and Carmie Gaydos Founders Gaydos Monument Company was founded in 1949 by John Gaydos, Jr. and his wife Carmie Grassi-Gaydos, both first generation immigrants. John and Carmie started the monument company in their home on Oak Spring Road in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Their purpose was to provide high quality memorials at reasonable prices to friends, family, neighbors and acquaintances in the community. They raised three children in the same home as they nurtured their business, usually seven days a week, including holidays some folks could only stop by on a holiday. Together, in 1963, they borrowed a small sum from a local resident of the village of Canonsburg, to build a plant and showroom. The showroom, until then, had been John and Carmie s modestly decorated basement; their office... their kitchen table. Their method of transport and installation of granite memorials ( weighing hundreds of pounds ) was old fashion rubber washing machine rollers, a steel bar ( for lift ), an old coal shoot window with a plank running from the floor of the basement to the outside ( to move display pieces from outside-in and vise-versa ); a small pick up truck would be borrowed from a neighbor. Their neighbors and friends were their crew until their children, Roger, Charlotte, and Debra were old enough to help out. Their 1963 endeavor, across the street from their home was finally a dignified place to showcase their granite monuments -- the very same building Gaydos Monument Company operates from today. In 1981, John Gaydos, Jr. retired and his son, Roger, purchased the family business. Roger J. Gaydos, Sr., his wife Ellen, and all seven of their children have spent years working at the family business. Their daughter Catherine and three of their sons: Roger, Jr., Mike, and Mark, continue to work at the monument company today. Having maintained the family business through three generations, the Gaydos's have a true understanding of what it means to preserve family heritage the very mission of crafting a memorial. Since Roger took the reigns of the family business, he has instituted a more global approach to fabricating and delivering memorials without sacrificing personalized service and reasonable pricing, following the tradition of his mother and father. His focus is to teach people how to really serve the public, harness the latest technology, select the finest granites from around the world and produce the finest product possible. Roger remains ever-committed to improving Gaydos Monument Company, recently breaking ground on a new addition to the Gaydos headquarters building in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. The addition will be completed by the end of summer, 2005, and will provide Gaydos Monument Company with additional storage and production capacity to meet the demands of their growing customer base. Roger J. Gaydos, Sr., Owner, Gaydos Monument Co, Canonsburg PA Thank you for visiting Gaydos Monument Company website. Times certainly have changed... but our commitment remains the same honoring customers and their families by producing each monument at a reasonable price, capable of lasting beauty. We've dedicated ourselves to this purpose since 1949 call, e-mail or visit us to see why it's so.