Method of providing a dual use gravesite marker

#The present invention relates in general to gravesite markers or what might be referred to as gravestones, headstones, or monuments. More specifically, the present invention relates to the design and construction of a temporary gravesite marker which can be styled to simulate the final or permanent gravestone which will be used to mark and identify the grave.

#The death of a loved one can come suddenly and unexpectedly, causing the family to hurriedly put funeral arrangements together. One of the decisions to be made, in many cases, is the selection and styling of a permanent gravestone. Even if the passing of a loved one is anticipated, such as when the individual is suffering from a long illness, funeral arrangements are not necessarily made in advance. Further, even if a gravestone style and informational content can be selected and decided upon fairly quickly, the final cutting, designing and stenciling may take weeks to complete. Some of the delay may be due to the time required and the simple backlog of earlier orders. The completion of the gravestone work may also be affected by what a particular cemetery or monument company has in stock as far as gravestone materials, colors, shapes, sizes, etc. Even if the desired gravestone is in stock, the addition of designs and letter etching or stenciling must still be done and this can take weeks to complete.

#In order to address the problem of such time delays in having the final, permanent gravestone for a gravesite, cemeteries typically create what could best be described as a fairly crude, temporary gravesite marker. Such temporary markers may be nothing more than a small metal frame which receives selectively arranged letter tiles in order to spell out the surname of the deceased. These temporary markers, which are relatively thin (one-half (½) to one and one-half (1½) inches), are placed on the ground adjacent the gravesite. By limiting the overall thickness of these temporary markers such that their height above ground level is roughly one (1) inch, it allows the grounds crews or maintenance crews at the cemetery, when mowing the grass, to be able to run the lawnmower directly over the marker. While such temporary markers are not intended in any way to be disrespectful to the deceased, they are certainly not what would be considered pleasing in appearance or matching the style and presentation of the permanent gravestone to be positioned at a later time. No doubt to some family members these temporary metal gravesite markers, with their movable and replaceable letter tiles, can be depressing and to others these temporary markers may seem to trivialize the life and accomplishments of the deceased.

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a temporary gravesite marker, as positioned at a gravesite, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the FIG. 1 temporary gravesite marker.

#FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the FIG. 2 temporary gravesite marker.

#For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

#Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a “temporary” gravesite marker 10, according to the present invention. Marker 10 is actually constructed to be a permanent memento or keepsake which simulates the permanent gravestone to be placed at the gravesite. Accordingly, marker 10 has a size, shape, and weight that enables marker 10 to be considered as portable. Marker 10 is intended to be used by placing it on the ground at the gravesite in a cemetery, for example, with its upper surface 11 facing upright so as to be visible. Upper surface 11 includes identification information in the form of alphanumeric characters regarding the person buried at the corresponding gravesite. This information can include virtually any items which the family of the deceased would like to include as part of marker 10. It is expected that the included information will likely include the name of the deceased as well as the years (or dates) of birth and death. However, since the requested information is easily stenciled onto the upper surface 11 of marker 10, the information options for the family of the deceased are virtually limitless.

#While the specifics of marker 10 will be described hereinafter, including material options and dimensional ranges, marker 10 actually begins with a unitary marker tablet which has been fabricated to the desired size and shape from a selected material. The desired information is then etched into the upper surface 11 of the marker tablet, typically by sandblasting through a prepared stencil (see FIG. 4) in order to create marker 10.