Preservation efforts at Bellefonte’s historic Union Cemetery took a major step forward on Aug. 20 when Steve Snyder, of Snyder and Co. Monuments, lifted several fallen headstones back to their original vertical positions.
“I just love doing this stuff,” Snyder said. “I love bringing things back to life. This is my passion.”
Snyder said he’d been following the Union Cemetery Facebook page and decided to volunteer his services. Although his company is based in Tyrone, he has a personal connection to Union Cemetery.
“My mother’s side of the family is all from the Milesburg and Bellefonte areas,” Snyder said. “I have family buried in the new and old sections. A minimum of 10. I anticipate an ongoing relationship with Union Cemetery.”
Two local residents volunteered to assist Snyder with the preservation work — Jim Baldwin, the Bellefonte Cemetery Association president, and Randy Brachbill, Bellefonte Borough Council president.
Baldwin chose the fallen McGarvey family headstone (Edward, Mary and Blanche) as a priority for preservation because of its local history. “Mary and Blanche McGarvey were two women who had a photography business in downtown Bellefonte before women usually owned businesses,” Baldwin said. Mary lived until 1966 and Blanche lived until 1961.
To level the base for the McGarvey headstone, Snyder placed gravel under it. He applied setting compound, epoxy and metal cushioning strips on top of the base to create a better attachment and seal. Estimating that the headstone weighed 1,000 pounds, Snyder lifted it off the ground using the crane attached to his truck. Baldwin and Brachbill helped position the headstone, and Snyder lowered it onto its base.
The uncovered back of the headstone revealed the names of three additional McGarveys — Ella Talitha, T. Cameron and James M. — that had been hidden for the 10 years that the headstone laid on the ground.
The Thomas Benner monument required a different lifting method.
The gravestones in that section were too close together for the crane truck to enter. Snyder used a large metal tripod and hoist to raise the fallen headstone.
He was also able to lift and reset two veterans’ headstones for James W. Alexander and C.H. Kephart.
When asked how he got involved with gravestone preservation, Snyder said, “My father passed away in 2018, and that’s when we moved forward with the business.
“I’ve always enjoyed history,” Snyder said.
“After we installed my dad’s headstone, we had extra supplies that we used for Fairview Cemetery in Altoona.
“My wife, Maranda, saw how much I enjoyed it and encouraged me,” he said.
“I went to two preservation workshops and did a ton of research.”
In addition to owning Snyder and Co. Monuments, he is now the president of Charlottesville and Eastlawn cemeteries in Blair County.
Snyder and his wife have created a nonprofit, Save a Stone Foundation. They help families apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs for free headstones for veterans and offer resetting, repairs or cleaning services to cemeteries without available funds to care for their historic and veterans’ headstones.
“I’m going to come back for sure in the fall,” Snyder said.
“Jim and Randy are going to try to level out the bases so I can just come back and set the tops back on and have them sealed up.”
This story appears in the Sept. 8-14 edition of The Centre County Gazette.
