PB Monument Works carves innumerable memorial stones, but it reached its own milestone last week: 50 years of ownership by two generations of the Gillihan family. Over the decades the business has adapted to new technology, locations and challenges, and the Gillihans continue looking ahead while serving the community.
“One big thing for us is that we want people to feel comfortable coming in to order a monument. So often people stay away out of grief, fear, or even shame over waiting what they feel is too long to order a monument, and we just want them to know that we are here to help them without judgment, and we are here to answer their questions,” said Susan Gillihan. “...Often we are told by our customers that we make what they assumed would be a very difficult process, a lot easier on them, and that is such a huge compliment, that we can take some of the pain out of a very hard time in a lot of people’s lives.”
Roy Gillihan originally bought Winton Monument from John Winton. The business became Poplar Bluff Monument Works, which Troy Gillihan and Hazel Gillihan — Roy Gillihan’s brother- and sister-in-law — purchased in 1973. Troy Gillihan was a former employee of Pepsi Co. seeking a new career.
“I wasn’t very big, and the cases were getting heavier all the time. I knew I had to do something different,” he joked.
Their son Steve Gillihan officially joined the business in 1998, the same year it moved from downtown Poplar Bluff to south Westwood Boulevard. Thirty years later he and Susan Gillihan, his wife, bought the company. He also became a certified memorialist.
Susan Gillihan said PB Monument stays engaged with Poplar Bluff and is “very involved with a lot of community projects,” such as restoring the Veterans Wall outside Black River Coliseum.
“We get to like be a part of a lot of community projects, like the tornado memorial, veterans memorials, things like that,” Steve Gillihan added. The tornado memorial is a teardrop-shaped stone on the historic Frisco Depot grounds downtown. Its height, 86 inches, represents the 86 people killed in the deadly 1927 tornado that struck Poplar Bluff.
The Gillihans are also working to restore a local cemetery, according to employee Leslie O’Connor.
“We bought Memorial Gardens Cemetery a couple of years ago, and have been working ever since on getting it back to what it once was after years of near neglect,” she said, noting, “It can be a slow process at times, but it is coming along, and there is much more yet to come.”
The Gillihans have seen several industry changes during their two generations, most notably the incorporation of computers into the carving process.
“When you’re going into computers, I guess that’s the biggest update design-wise,” Troy Gillihan said.
His son continued, “Drawing with a computer now...you can manipulate the artwork a lot more than what you could have done. Used to, it was just what you could do by hand, and they literally traced it over onto the stone.”
Now the digital designs are used to make a rubber stencil for each memorial. Details are then sandblasted into the stone.
O’Connor said this process helps PB Monument Works create individualized memorials.
“We love it when people come in with unique ideas. We’ll always do our best to make the vision come to life,” she said.
The Gillihan family celebrated PB Monument Work’s anniversary with a hot dog lunch and open house on Oct. 20. On the horizon is a business expansion, they said, with expanded office space to better serve customers.
More information on PB Monument Works can be found at pbmonument.com.