Surrey carver Stefan Vukovic ended 2024 about halfway through 2017.
That is, just before this past Christmas, he finished creating granite markers for about half the names on a list of people who were laid to rest in 2017 without gravestones.
Rectifying the issue is the focus of a program that Vukovic has been a part of for years, through his family's Stonemarks Engraving business.
Initiated by his father Ves in 2013, the program has so far led to the marking of nearly 500 Surrey graves 鈥� most interring Surrey residents 鈥� that likely would have otherwise remained nameless.
That reality is one that didn't sit well with Ves, who came face-to-face with it in 2012, when he learned that the grave of a good friend had no marker. The anonymity of the loss compounded his grief and inspired him to create a granite headstone to mark his buddy's final resting place.
Realizing how widespread the circumstance was 鈥� not a single grave in the area around his friend's was marked 鈥� Ves committed to providing additional markers for others whose loved ones could not afford a gravestone.
"Every person deserves to be perpetuated," Ves told Black Press Media in a 2013 interview.
Over the years since, that mindset hasn't wavered, said Vukovic, who took the helm at Stonemarks a few years ago.
"The notion that everyone deserves to have a marker is something we very much stand by," he said earlier this month.
The list of names comes through the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, which offers assistance with funeral and burial costs in cases where a deceased's estate, family or sponsor does not have the financial resources to afford it; the cost of grave markers, however, is not funded.
While as many as 40 of the markers have been carved at Stonemarks in a year, the annual total averages around 20. There were 32 in the most recent batch. Noting an increase in ministry burials in recent years, Vukovic said the need "absolutely" exceeds the number that Stonemarks can complete.
"It's 2025 now, and we're still working on 2017. There's a lot of plots that are unmarked," he said.
Noting the issue is not unique to Surrey, Vukovic said he and Stonemarks will persevere.
"Everyone deserves to be remembered and have a spot" where family and friends can visit and reflect, he said.
"The one big thing my dad always kind of ingrained in me鈥� you have to give back to the community and help out. That was something we took pride in.
"It's just something we like to do, we've been doing it for years now, and we know we help out families, so we'll just keep going."
