"Reviving Their Memory & Restoring Their Honor"

Combining passion & professionalism to preserve the memories of your ancestors.

About the Business

Preserving the Past

Preserving Historic Gravestones

I use a neutral Ph, acid/bleach free, biodegradable cleaner (D/2) that is recommended by the National Park Service to clean all gravestones. It is environmentally friendly & will not harm grass, plants, or animals. The D/2, and the water used, are applied with a simple hand-pump sprayer and then scrubbed with a soft bristle brush. No power equipment is ever used, avoiding any pressure sprayer damage. No bleach or acid-based chemical is used, so as to keep the stone as safe as possible.

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Historic gravestones are 75-100+ years old, and require unique materials to repair. Leaning stones can be leveled. Keystone monuments use a historic lime mortar to be reset into their base. A two-part epoxy is used to join broken tablet sections back together & infill the seam. Gravestones that have separated from their base are lifted and set back on the leveled base and new setting compound used to complete a solid joint.

My History

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Travel Area

I am a retired Clarksville Police Department Sergeant with 34 years of service to the community. During my tenure there I held the positions of Field Training Officer, Hostage/Crisis Negotiator, Shift Supervisor, and Crime Scene Unit Commander. I saw this venture as a way that I could still be active and that I could help families and churches bring beauty back to those memorials for their loved ones; still allowing me to continue to help the community.

Travel Area

Professional Associations

Travel Area

My work area is, predominately, in Clarksville-Montgomery County, Tennessee. I will, if needed, travel up to 2 hours from my location for cleaning, & 1.5 hours for repair. That is subject to change dependent upon the level of cleaning/repair required. This allows time to travel to your site & get the work done in one day. Cleanings or repairs that take more than one day may incur a higher fee due to travel. (See Price Guide below.)

Professional Associations

*Member of Association of Gravestone Studies

*Consultant to Tennessee State Historical Commission

*Consultant to Middle Tennessee State University's Center for Historic Preservation

CLEANING/REPAIR SERVICES PRICE GUIDE

All gravestones will be inspected for stability prior to cleaning. If the monument needs to be re-leveled, re-seated, or repaired, the customer will be notified. No cleaning will be undertaken until the monument is stable. An estimate will be provided for the repair, with a cleaning included, once complete.

Heavily deteriorated monuments may incur a higher fee. Customer will be notified of any changes in fees prior to cleaning.

Travel outside of Clarksville/Montgomery County, TN will incur a travel fee of .70 cents per mile, round trip.

All local estimates are free. Travel outside of Clarksville/Montgomery County for an estimate will be assessed a travel fee.

** Veteran's gravestones - No Charge for cleaning. Travel fee will be assessed if outside of Clarksville/Montgomery County, TN. A supply fee of $75 may be incurred if the gravestone is overly large or has heavy biological growth/staining.

IN THE NEWS!!

Main Street Clarksville

Minton Monument Cleaning was the subject of a news story in "Mainstreet Clarksville", a local newspaper for Montgomery County, Tennessee. Click the link below to go the site to read the article, or scroll down for a copy of the article and accompanying photos.

Many thanks to Cheri Reeves of Mainstreet Clarksville for a wonderful article.

https://www.mainstreetclarksville.com/news/retired-officer-finds-purpose-cleaning-gravestones/article_e3d17e8a-83c9-11ed-bf73-ef12b86517e4.html

Learn more

"Retired officer finds purpose cleaning gravestones"

BY CHERI REEVES Main Street Clarksville DEC 29, 2022

A retired Clarksville Police Sergeant has turned a hobby of cleaning old gravestones into a small business. He provides the service to monuments for deceased veterans for free.

In 2019, Terry Minton, now age 58, retired from the police force following his 34-year career in law enforcement. After a brief stint with an area home improvement retail store, Minton decided to change gears and do something more rewarding to him personally.

Minton, owner of Minton Monument Cleaning, uses a biological cleaner that is said to be safe to the environment and the headstone. It removes much of the dark mold, mildew and algae from the weathered and aged monuments. Whether the burial marker is marble, limestone, granite or sandstone, Minton uses a soft, natural brush to gently scrub growth on the headstones more difficult to read, especially on the ones that are very old. When Minton is finished with the process, the headstones are often brought back closer to their beauty of when they were originally set.

“There’s no bleach or pressure washing acids involved in this,” Minton said. “You do not want to harm the stone. A lot of these monuments can be 150 to 200 years old.”

After rinsing the stone with water, Minton will gently scrub the stone again. The cleaner he uses will keep working for three to four years. “It will continue to work over time,” Minton said. “The transformation on this is just unreal. I’ve done some that have been nearly black and by the time I get done, you are looking at pure, white and clean marble.” Minton said the rain, sunlight and harsh weather conditions can all play roles in causing the stones to fade and become discolored through the years.

He said cleaning the headstones is something he enjoys doing in his retirement and finds the work personally fulfilling.

“Obviously there is a need,” Minton said. “I’ve seen a big need in some of the cemeteries around Montgomery County, whether it’s the large cemeteries or the smaller ones.”

The business Minton has begun is unique to the Middle Tennessee area, according to Dana Koverman who recently retired as the office manager of Clarksville’s Greenwood Cemetery. “While the larger cemeteries will clean monuments, there are very few people who do that as a business in our area,” Koverman said. “At Greenwood, we charge a fee, as do the other large cemeteries. But the smaller cemeteries of course do not always provide that service.”

Noticeable improvements

One of the most difficult headstones Minton has cleaned was in the Southside Cemetery off Chapel Hill Road. It was the limestone monument for Lucy Harris, who died in 1911.

“It was a large, standing obelisk-style stone that had fungal growth on it, algae and black mold,” Minton said. “It took about two days of work to completely scrape everything off of it and work to get it where you could actually see the writing that had been engraved on there.” Minton proudly said now, when he visits the cemetery, the stone stands out among the other older stones.

“It’s just this gleaming, white limestone,” Minton said. “Through this work, you can see what the stone actually looked like when it was first set.”

Respecting the deceased

One of the aspects of the service Minton enjoys is getting to know more about the families who are having the monument cleaned.

“When I talk with the families and I find out about what stone they’re wanting done, I invariably get some kind of back story about the individual who is buried there,” Minton said.

One of the headstones Minton cleaned was for a man named Richard Washington Workman who died in the early 1900s. Workman had eight children with his first family, according to Minton. “I found out that he sold off land to put all eight children through college,” Minton said. “After his first wife passed, he remarried and had six more children. Once the father passed away, the first set of children pooled funds to help send several of the younger six children through college.”

Honoring the fallen

At the beginning of this year, Minton set out to clean 22 headstones prior to Veterans Day 2022. “I wound up cleaning more like 26,” Minton said. “I reached my goal before Veterans Day, so I ended up doing a few more.” Minton said he never served in the military himself, but his career in law enforcement was his service to our country. In cleaning the deceased veterans’ monuments at no cost is his way of honoring them.

On his website, Minton states, “These veterans’ headstones have been cleaned in order to preserve their memory and honor their service. Rest well, soldiers. Your battles on this earth are done. Thank you for your service.”

For more information, visit: Minton Monument Cleaning on Facebook; Or, visit Minton’s web-site at: https://mintonmonumentcleaningandprese.godaddysites.com/

Mon	08:00 am – 04:00 pm
Tue	08:00 am – 04:00 pm
Wed	08:00 am – 04:00 pm
Thu	08:00 am – 04:00 pm
Fri	08:00 am – 04:00 pm
Sat	08:00 am – 04:00 pm
Sun	Closed

"Reviving Their Memory & Restoring Their Honor"

About the Business

Preserving the Past

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Preserving Historic Gravestones

My History

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Travel Area

Travel Area

Professional Associations

Travel Area

Professional Associations

Professional Associations

Professional Associations

CLEANING/REPAIR SERVICES PRICE GUIDE

CLEANING/REPAIR:

Cleaning - Inspection will be made for stability prior to cleaning.

Repair: (Leveling, straightening, reattach, reconstruct missing areas).

**Repair costs based on number of hours to complete plus cost of materials*

IN THE NEWS!!

Main Street Clarksville

Reviews

Contact Me

Minton Monument Cleaning & Preservation

Hours

"Reviving Their Memory & Restoring Their Honor"

About the Business

Preserving the Past

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Preserving Historic Gravestones

My History

Preserving Historic Gravestones

Travel Area

Travel Area

Professional Associations

Travel Area

Professional Associations

Professional Associations

Professional Associations

CLEANING/REPAIR SERVICES PRICE GUIDE

CLEANING/REPAIR:

Cleaning - Inspection will be made for stability prior to cleaning.

Repair: (Leveling, straightening, reattach, reconstruct missing areas).

**Repair costs based on number of hours to complete plus cost of materials*

IN THE NEWS!!

Main Street Clarksville

Reviews

Social Media Links

Contact Me

Minton Monument Cleaning & Preservation

Hours

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