If you’re ever driving through the Woodlawn Cemetery in Sioux Falls, South Dakota you won’t fail to miss this one-of-a-kind monument. This monument proved to be an exciting and challenging project for us to accomplish, but we loved working with Ralph and the rest of the Scoular family along the way.
This project forced us to come up with some creative ways to fit the various pieces into our laser machines and sand-blasting booths. We all took a big sigh of relief when all the pieces were successfully sandblasted, lasered, and installed on sight.
Location
This monument to the Scoulars rests in the Sycamore section of the cemetery just north of the 33rd street entrance into the Woodlawn Cemetery. The section is relatively unfilled with only a few other large monuments in its vicinity, so it’s not hard to spot.
The Story
Here at Family Memorials we like to help every family we serve to tell their stories in stone and the Scoulars have definitely succeeded in doing just that.
Central to the monument is the laser-etched portrait of Ralph and Hazel underneath their family name and above their marriage date and the phrase “together forever”. It’s clear their marriage was something they highly valued since it sits front and center!
Each “wing” of the monuments gives us a good understanding of who Ralph and Hazel were and what they valued. We know that Ralph was a skilled salesman, loved to mentor the next generation, and had many friends. Hazel had many great memories and valued her religious beliefs.
The symbols on the sub-base give us an understanding of the various social groups and clubs each were involved in.
From left to right:
Ralph
- Freemason Square and Compass
- Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry to the 32nd Degree
- Shriners
- RV & Mobile Home Hall of Fame
- Veterans of Foreign Wars
- Lutheran Cross
Hazel
- Eastern Star of Rebecca
- P.E.O. – Philanthropic Educational Organization
Underneath it all, along the bottom of the sub-base are the names of their two sons.
The Stone
The central piece of this monument is a 28-in. wide, 28-in. deep, and 72-in. foot tall Jet Black Obelisk. It is all polished with diminished chamfers on all the edges.
The two wings are 36-in. wide, 6-in. deep, and 54-in. tall. They are also Jet Black granite and have a serpentine top with diminished chamfers on the front and back.
The sub-base is a 108-in. wide, 30-in. deep, and 22-in. tall piece of all polished, Jet Black granite.
The base is 120-in. wide, 36-in. deep, and 8-in. tall. It has a polished top, balanced rock pitched side and sits on an 11-ft. by 4-ft. concrete precast foundation.
There is also an urn extension next to the foundation that holds an 18-in. wide, 18-in. deep, and 18-in. tall Jet Black granite vase. The vase is all polished with balanced rock pitch along the bottom 6 inches.
