RANDOLPH COUNTY, N.C. — COVID-19 has turned life upside down and created major disruptions to supply chains. One industry is struggling with supply issues like many others, but an N.C. grave installer says there is a prime reason his line of business has been shorter on needed items.

Grave installer Lacy Hughes believes that the stone quarry is manufacturing the same amount they usually do each year, but the rise of COVID-19-related deaths is what has caused a backlog on memorials.

What You Need To Know 

The turnaround time for headstones has gone from six-eight weeks to up to eight months 

Lacy Hughes has been installing headstones for nearly four decades and believes COVID deaths are behind the delays

Smaller pieces, such as markers, are usually easier to come by. It's the larger headstones that increase wait times

“Normally, our turnaround time is anywhere from six to eight weeks, but since the pandemic that turnaround time has gone from six to eight weeks to six to eight months,” said Hughes, who is an installer at Tri-County Monuments.

That means eight months of waiting for people grieving a loss before a burial site is properly established with a headstone. That's only if they get a larger headstone. Smaller pieces like markers are usually easier to come by.

Hughes has been engraving and installing headstones for nearly four decades at Tri-County Monuments, located in Reidsville.

To say he's an expert is an understatement. Hughes said in all his years, he's never seen anything quite like these delays.

“There’s more granite poured in Elberton than anywhere in the world. I don't know how many pieces was quarried in the last two years but due to the increase in deaths, it's probably doubled,” said Hughes.

Luckily, with all the supply chain issues, most families are understanding and it hasn't hurt business. 

“I believe that the community knows that the Tri-County Monument Company does good work and stand behind what they say they do and for those reasons I think we will do just fine, whatever comes,” Hughes said.

He said he expects the delays to last for at least another year.