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This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.
Many people in Utah County who have had to make funeral arrangements for a friend or relative know the name Beesley. That's because for four generations, the Beesley Monument and Vault Co. has produced many of the stone markers placed at area cemeteries in memory of those who have passed on.
Thomas Beesley and his wife Ann Carter came west from Indiana in the mid-1800s. They were lured by stories of prosperity in California but only got as far as Provo after Ann became ill.
Thomas took up farming to begin with, but shortly after purchased a monument shop called Provo Marble Works from a Mr. A.O. Fuller. Thomas' son Thomas Albert was an apprentice stone cutter there at the time. The Beesleys renamed the shop Beesley Marble Works, and Thomas Albert and his brother Richard began running it in 1889.
Thomas Albert and his wife Sara Liddiard had eight living children, six sons and two daughters. All his sons learned the monument trade. But because of the Great Depression, they had to leave the Provo area in search of other work. Only his youngest son David remained at home.
In those early years, almost all of the work was done by hand and was very difficult. It required a good team of mules, muscle power and a lot of patience. Many early monuments were crafted from local stone quarried 25 miles north of Provo.
In 1939 the business changed hands from Thomas Albert to his son David Beesley and became The Beesley Monument Co. It also moved across the street from the Provo City Cemetery where it has since undergone a number of enlargements and additions over the years.
David and his wife Geaniel Vincent had four children--two sons and two daughters. In 1972, their sons Wayne and Richard Beesley took over management and now run the company as a full service monument and memorial service business. Beesley memorials have been shipped all over the world, and the company is one of the largest businesses of its kind in the Intermountain West.
For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.
