By Julie Grenier
As companies rushed to fix their computers for Y2K-related problems, the memorial industry say they faced a different sort of problem as the year changed to 2000.
Scattered throughout cem-etaries are tombstones engraved with the wrong century for the date of death.
Decades before all the hype for the new millennium, monument engravers chiselled “19—” as the date of death on headstones of people who are still alive.
Since at least the 1970s, monument engravers have been advising people who are pre-planning their funeral and buying a headstone not to carve in the space reserved for the date of death, just in case they outlive their guess.
“It just makes sense. You never know how long someone is going to live,” says Allan MacKenzie, owner of Laur-entian Monuments, which has a headstone display at 584 Somerset St.
Outdated monuments are out there.
“I’ve seen them myself,” says MacKenzie.
He says a visit to the cemetery would prove the problem hasn’t been erased.
“My grandma is one of them (with an outdated monument),” says Marc Langlois of J.P. Laurin Monuments on 213 York, adding that the stone was done in the mid-1970s.
But rest assured, if the headstone has expired, it can be fixed.
The cost would vary depending on the size and style of the stone.
Most engravers agree they would foot the bill or at least share the cost, although few are sure under what conditions the customer carries part of the burden.
If the numbers are carved into the stone, the engravers have to fill it with a mix of granite and epoxy and then etch new numbers in. This could could cost anywhere from $100 to $300.
If the numbers are raised, meaning they are higher than the stone, the numbers would have to be sawed off and repolished. Estimates for the latter run from about $400 to $1,500.
However, for Langlois, the bigger problem is how to space the numerals for the new century.
Those engravers who left an empty space for the date of death now realize the space isn’t large enough to fit 2000.
Langlois says no one in the industry gave much thought to the fact that the digits for the new year take up more space than those of the century past.
“It’ll be a problem for centering the numbers on the monument,” says Langlois.
So far, J.P Laurin has not received any calls on fixing any outdated monuments.
Sheila Voisin, of Campbell Monument Co. Ltd., a husband and wife-owned engraver business in the Ottawa region, says she’s received only one call on the matter.
“A little old lady called us recently. She was quite concerned that “19—” was enscribed on her stone, so my husband drove down (to Renfrew) to meet her,” Voisin explains.
It turns out there was no date inscribed in the space reserved for the date of death.
Engravers say they expect to deal with more cases in the spring.