Some of us at Trinity remember Alex Davis who was a member here for about 10 years in the 2010s. Now a member of St. Francis Catholic Church, Alex still loves Trinity and the history of his native Staunton. He shows that love by restoring our churchyard headstones.
This is no easy task. Some stones date to the 1700s. The oldest stones are made of sandstone and newer ones of granite and marble. Some are irreparably damaged, but some can be revived with a good cleaning, Alex uses D/2 Biological Solution and Tampico brushes. His warm-weather work began last summer and will likely continue next summer.
“In a perfect world,” he says, “my long-term goal is to first clean all the stones and, then for a second phase, start looking at repairing the gravestones most in disrepair.”
Employed by Henry Funeral Home, Alex is not equipped to repair the stones and expects to work with a local monument company when that time comes. Until then, he is doing all the cleaning himself. At no charge. No one asked him for this gift. He simply offered.
Especially wonderful is that this cleaning will prevent further damage. Within a few weeks of the D/2 application, stones are beautiful and new dirt, even lichen, is less likely to stay on the stones, making future cleanings much easier.
Our churchyard was Staunton’s only graveyard until Thornrose Cemetery was chartered in 1849. Some estimate there are 5,000 graves at Trinity, most of them unmarked. These days, the churchyard is not a site for new burials, other than ashes in the garden, just east of the church.