05/09/2026
People often ask me how I got into historic stone and grave marker repair. I tell them it started with a visit to a small rural cemetery. I just bought a Jeep and wanted to test out the 4 wheel drive. I googled map searched the area and noticed a white object from the aerial view. I contacted The Summit Group real estate and asked if I could find the old cemetery on the 6,000 acres. He said, sure but it was moved. It took me 2 days of Jeep riding and I found it! I was blown away , not only by the beauty and history resting there, but also by the neglect. I later returned with my friend Stephen Hammock / Archaeologist and told him we have to get someone out here to fix this. He responded , " no one does this or much less come out here in the middle of no where." It bothered me for several weeks and then....
Less than a year later, I was completely consumed by the preservation and repair of historic grave markers.
Since 2015, this passion has taken me farther than I ever imagined, from Italy to California and countless places in between while learning from master carvers and preservationists .What amazes me most is that after all these years, hundreds of cemeteries and all the miles, Ive never come across a blue GLASS (3) grave markers… until finding three here. All three are infant burials. Only one still stands. Interesting the corner markers are blue bottles that are placed upside down indicating the plot boundaries for the little ones. A decade later, thousands of miles & 100 upon thousands of pieces later I have yet to return to the cemetery that changed my life course forever. No jeep now the Tundra will be clearing the path now. Joey Fernandez
STOKES FAMILY CEMETERY
HARTLEY BRIDGE ROAD
MACON, GEORGIA USA