Past Preservation

07/05/2025

I swear someone emailed me or messaged me about a headstone with a vase that had broken off or fallen off the other day… I saw it and intended to reply but was busy… and now I can’t find it!! So if you see this and it was you… please resend it so I can figure out who it was.

07/05/2025

There are some great things going on over here! Take a look and give my friend a follow if you like!

I will always trust the results of D/2 Biological Solution. You can get your cemetery restoration and preservation supplies from Cemetery Preservation Supply LLC at Gravestonecleaner.com 🤍🪦

07/04/2025

Ok folks! Looks like I will be doing a gravestone restoration and repair class this month in Montcalm county Michigan! Winfield township to be exact! Still trying to nail down the final details but I will be making an event announcement in the next few days! If you are in the area and you are interested in learning to clean and repair gravestones please keep an eye out for the announcement!

07/04/2025

This stone was hit by a falling tree last fall and laid scattered on the ground. Luckily there was no significant damage done to it as a result.

07/03/2025

To all of my new followers… and even the ones who have been following me for some time now. Here is just a little bit about me.
My name is Justin (most of you knew that already) and I am a husband to an amazing wife and father to two of the greatest kids ever. I am blessed beyond belief. Casi RN BSN - Hormones, Wellness, & Sports Mom

I am a chemical process operator at a large chemical company in my home town and have been working here for nearly 10 years. Before that I was a structural ironworker for 7 years and before that I worked in steel fabrication shops building structural steel members for large buildings such as U of M hospital, airplane hangars and Hemlock semiconductor.

Life had been wierd. I was 28 years old when I discovered my love for history even though I hated it in school. I was not a great student but I got good enough grades to get a diploma. I’ve always been a hands on learner and worked hard for everything I have. It hasn’t been easy, but nobody said life was.

7 years ago I began my family history journey that then brought me to my new joy… cemeteries! When I first started I had no clue what I was doing. I researched, I emailed people, and I watched a lot of YouTube. I stumbled across some opportunities to take some hands on training classes not far from home and I jumped on them. This was when I decided to take what I had learned… and what I’m continuing to learn and make it more accessible to the general public.

Through this process I realized that it was far too complicated to find information on how to clean and repair headstones… and while there is no replacement for hands on training I also realize that there are many capable people out there that just need to see how it’s done and they will be able to duplicate that result where they live. In this moment Past Preservation LLC was born.

I have taken what I learned from those two classes and decided what I liked best from both of them and use those practices on every single project. My posts are meant to inspire people, teach people, and start a discussion around this field of preservation that has far too few hands working in it.

As my friend Cristine put it… if we don’t do something now, we will lose the few monuments that we still have from the last 200 years. And that is how I truly feel!

I hope you all have a safe and exciting 4th of July weekend! I will be spending the next 9 days at work making materials you use every single day… or maybe I just scrub toilets… (inside joke) 😂

07/03/2025

Thanks for being a top engager and making it on to my weekly engagement list! 🎉

Glenn Keyworth, Sandra Chartier, Mauro Silva Barbosa, Matt Anderson, Larry Richardson, Janice Wendt, Linda Hess Fisher, Debora Gardner, Jerry DeFoor, Mark Gerald Saballa Pablo

07/03/2025

I sent out a few hats today… if you are interested in one of your own they are $25 local pickup (Midland Michigan) and $35 shipped anywhere in the lower 48 states. Shipping outside of the US will be extra! Please email me at [email protected] if you are interested!

07/02/2025

I’ve had a lot of questions about removing pine sap from headstones lately… today I was presented with a perfect opportunity to show how this is done!

07/02/2025

I’ve never seen a monument quite like this one at Avondale cemetery in Flint Michigan. This marker was among those moved from the “old city cemetery” or the current holiday in location.

07/01/2025

This week my kids have opted to stay with dad all day and go to the cemetery and work on headstones… they love it! It’s in their blood! This week I started to teach them how to do mortar work and each of them took turns placing mortar around the base of a stone. They are good kids and they make me proud every day.

07/01/2025

Yes! There are bodies beneath the holiday inn hotel in Flint Michigan. This is what was told to me by a researcher who is working on his family history and found the story. All these stones were moved from the site but there is no documentation that any bodies were ever moved.