Troost Memorials

My family ordered a grave marker to be installed this summer. Even though the «official» cemetery recommended their own vendors we decided to go forward with Troost. There was a problem with the placement of the engravings that we had approved already assuming that they would have confirmed the details with the cemetery people. It wasn’t correct. There was then a gap in communication and we had a little bit of a rocky ride. The salesman assured us that the stone would be redone to our satisfaction. They stood by their commitment and did a fine job.

My mother passed away July 30^th. 2012. We already had the headstone, just needed the engraving, I had called several monument companies and chose Peter Troost, due to the good reputation and experience. Unfortunately have been disappointed because it is now the middle of February and my Mom’s headstone is still not engraved. I have called & visited the office, spoke directly with Peter Troost and the answer I get is, «there is a shortage of engravers». One would think having a company as large as Troost, oppportunity for employement would be greater…
Beginning to wonder if you don’t purchase the big ticket item, you are not a priority customer?

«In every life it has been said there comes a time to join the dead» go the lyrics in TSO’s «Beethoven’s Last Night» epic. This isn’t something people ponder in the prime of their healthy and active life, but it is a reality we all come to face in due time.
My father passed away in January of 2011, almost exactly a year from the time I am writing this review now. At the time of his passing, we already had a cemetery plot but no stone or monument. These days, most people opt for cremation or pay little attention to burial details like a fancy monument, but my mom and I both knew he would have wanted to be remembered with a more ornate headstone.
So how does one shop for a monument? Well, Troost sent us an old-​fashioned letter shortly after the funeral, offering us a consultation. I called them since the letter said they were familiar with making stones with Ukrainian symbols and Cyrillic letters, which are commonplace at St. Nicholas Cemetery on the edge of the Rosemont and Chicago border.
Troost has a small office with showroom in Skokie, near Zhivago Restaurant and… a cemetery across the street. Going inside, you’d think you’re at a tax preparer’s office or insurance agency. The office smells of old paper and looks like a place that hasn’t changed in some 30 years inside. Then you walk into the back and see a floor lined with assorted styles of stones, plaques and granite colors. Now my mom is no «grace under pressure» person and panics over the slightest risk of a detail being wrong. It also makes her a difficult customer when it comes to sensitive matters like this. Luckily, I’m more decisive and objective and she trusts my intuition.
Owner Peter Troost is a grandfatherly man with «Master Memorialist» as his title on his business card. He was an absolute pleasure to work with. His congeniality reminds me of an old-​time storekeeper. He’s doesn’t just want to be a seller, but a friend too. He knows his stuff, whether it’s the availability of various stones, what can be engraved or even what is the prevailing style of stones at a particular cemetery. While the showroom featured many Jewish style gravestones probably because of its surrounding area, Peter’s expertise in Ukrainian Catholic/​Orthodox headstones was very obvious.
Another thing to note about headstones and monuments is that it’s not something you order today and receive tomorrow or next week. It takes MONTHS to do. First, you pick a style of granite in a particular length, height and thickness. This is also dependent on what a cemetery will allow on its grounds. Mr. Troost’s knowledge really helped here. Now once you place an order for a stone, it may be 3 – 4 months before it even arrives at the engraving place, which is located elsewhere. Troost, after all, has multiple locations in the Chicago and suburban area but one place that does all the engraving.
He was not pushy either, nor did he use the worn-​out sales cliché, «I know just what you want». He wanted it to be our own decision from our heart. He did not steer us towards any price or style of stone, though he pointed out what costs more or less. There could be cheaper and much more expensive stones, but the final decision was clearly ours and he understood it.
Mr. Troost let us look over previously made headstones in a photo album, then when we saw a design we liked in a different color, he made a freehand sketch of the stone we envisioned, lettered to perfection like a master architect from the days before computers replaced hand drawings.
We made an initial deposit and started the process back in March 2011. By July, the stone arrived. We signed off on his hand sketch as a final proof of the design and OK to proceed with engraving. Then one day in August my mom panicked when she saw a gravestone with a granite vase and candle holder mounted to the stone. She knew she needed those. We came back and he let us choose designs in the same style of granite, but it would add 2 months to our finished stone and would be installed after the original stone was already in place at the cemetery. My mom fretted with each passing week on how badly it would look on the gravestone, but in the end when we received a letter for the final bill, we took a trip to the cemetery and it was absolutely perfect like we envisioned.
Peter Troost’s knowledge of stones and cemeteries made the entire ordering process easy to navigate. I wish his office would have called us with updates on a few occasions but other than that the experience was wonderful and I knew it would be done right. Mr. Troost lives up to his Master Memorialist title.