Whitney Monument Works offers six generations of care

In 1875, a man named Mark Whitney opened up a business carving headstones in Keosauqua.

His son, Lewis, moved the venture to Fairfield in 1911. Lewis’ son, Harry, relocated it to its current location on Depot Avenue in 1934, and his son Lewis took over in 1949. Now in its 149th year, the business is owned by Kent and Ronda Whitney. They later opened another office in Mt. Pleasant, as well as displays in Washington and Burlington.

“It was just something, in my second year of college, that I decided this is what I wanted to do,” Kent said of his decision to take on ownership in 1991. “I decided it was a good fit for me, and so it worked out.”

The traits of a good monument craftsman — things like creativity, an artistic eye and entrepreneurial spirit — evidently run in the family.

By the end of 2025, Kent plans to pass it on to his son, Jordan, who will be the sixth generation of the family to own Whitney Monument Works. Jordan had no intentions of taking over the family business growing up, but said he found himself called back to the work after some time away.

“Up until about four years ago, I really didn’t think I was going to be coming back into the family business,” Jordan said. “I was living in Chicago, working in restaurants, kind of exploring life and figuring it out as I went. And then of course COVID happened, and I came back home for a little bit and worked for my parents. And little by little, my perspectives and priorities shifted. I realized it was something I found a lot of fulfillment in.”

The work isn’t grim, per se, but it is quite serious. Most clients in the market for a headstone are grieving, or at least expect to be in the near future. Some face unimaginable tragedies, while others face losses that come as a fact of life. Still, the trade offers a clear sense of purpose to its practitioners.

“When it’s for a younger child, those are the ones we wish we didn’t have to do, but are some of the most important ones that we do for families,” he said. “It’s really not morbid at all, it’s more of a craft. But we of course are still dealing with families and friends that are grieving. It can definitely tug at your heart.”

For a profession that’s roughly 5,000 years old, memorial stonework has evolved considerably — albeit slowly — in the Whitney business’ century and a half of operation.

Much of the work today involves sandblasting, Photoshop, and a diamond etcher that can carve photo-realistic images onto stone.

However, some of it still involves more traditional methods.

“A lot of it still has to be hauled around on a dolly, and done by hand,” Jordan said. “And we still occasionally pull out the hammer and chisel, as well.”

Jordan emphasized that there was a lot of pride in continuing the family trade and that he has every intention to continue the standards of quality and care that his forefathers have provided families for well over a century.