LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A national shortage of stencils used for engraving headstones is leaving grieving families waiting for months.
Tom Evans with Evans Monuments in Louisville said there's been slow downs in the process during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the biggest reason is the main producer of the stencil, 3M, switched to helping produce PPE because of the pandemic.
Evans said there are other companies that make stencils, but the quality isn't reliable, and some can only do the smaller-sized headstones.
"This is the first time that I've ever been in a situation where I feel almost completely helpless," he said.
Chris Wagner bought his wife Samara's headstone from Evans Monument. He said she died in August 2020 and he didn't get the gravestone until July.
"To drive in the cemetery and you see something besides a pile of dirt ... to say the least, it's it's such an emotional deal," Wagner said.
He said he felt his wife of 48 years deserved a marker and the time waiting ate him away.
"Just your emotions get to you and you get fed up with that, and ... it was just very frustrating," Wagner said.
He's not alone.
Christina Worthington said she's been waiting for her mother's mausoleum to be marked in Evergreen Cemetery since her death in February.Â
"We're not angry.. We're just hurt. And there's a big difference in that," she said. "I just want to go see my mama and be able just to see her name/I mean, I know that sounds silly, but when you've lost someone, that's all you have left. And we don't even have that yet."
Her mom died of complications related to COVID-19 and said the entire process has been traumatizing.
"We try to be understanding," Worthington said. "We really understand the impact of COVID, more so than others, obviously. But there is a point where it's just gotten out of the realm of what it should be, and it's just ridiculous."
Evergreen Cemetery did not respond to a request for comment.
Evans said while he doesn't know Worthington's exact circumstance, he knows the stencil shortage is nationwide.
"There's a lot of emotion involved in this product, and that complicates the situation even more," he said.
He said 3M has communicated to him that production will be back up soon, but there's still a backlog to get through before things are totally back to normal.
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