A handful of preservationists are keeping Maine’s cemeteries alive

Maine gravestone conservator restores historic headstones and trains volunteers

Kennebunkport, Oct. 6 — When the wind whipped across the stone‑laden grounds of Arundel Cemetery, a single headstone rattled. Judson Star, the owner of the local gravestone‑repair business Maintain the Memory, arrived after 10 a.m. and began by stripping away a flaky, gray coating that looked more like a household caulk than a preservation product. “It looks like someone tried to repair it with some type of goop,” Star said, noting the material’s tendency to crumble under his fingers.

Star then applied a preservation‑grade epoxy with a popsicle stick, aligning the fractured pieces of the 1800s stone so that the epitaph lines matched. He fastened the stone to wooden planks and allowed the epoxy to cure for a full day. The result was a re‑joined monument that still stands upright and more stable than before.

“The bottom right corner was fractured into three pieces, and wobbled under just a little pressure,” Star recounted. “I use an aluminum tripod that can hoist up to a ton of weight to move and lift the stone, then prep the ground with shovels and tampers before applying the epoxy or mortar.”

Star has been working in about twenty cemeteries each year, from May through November, when temperatures are consistently above 45 °F and epoxy and mortar set properly. In roughly half the towns he serves, volunteers assist with simpler tasks such as cleaning or righting leaning stones. He says he enjoys teaching these volunteers and learning about the histories of those buried in the grounds.

“People are out there trying to make it better, and we want to harness that energy with the right skillset, so that people are not only doing good but doing good in the right way,” Star said. He added that a proper repair costs “hundreds of dollars,” not thousands, and that municipalities often have only a few thousand dollars left in their budget after mowing and tree‑care expenses.

The Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA) tracks the state’s more than 7,800 cemeteries—historic, family, and single‑grave sites. President Walter Guptill explained that 1,200 cemeteries remain physically unlocated even after MOCA volunteers found 500 over the past two years. Many of these sites are small, sometimes with fewer than thirty burials. With only about a dozen professional conservators statewide, most maintenance falls to municipal employees, cemetery committees, descendants, historical societies, and community volunteers.

MOCA offers one‑day cleaning classes and a four‑day repair boot‑camp to train volunteers in the art of conservation. “Lesson one is to do no harm,” Guptill said. “Lesson two is to only work within the limits of your training.” Improper cleaning—such as using bleach or hard bristle brushes—can permanently damage stone. MOCA supplies training videos and resources, and towns may volunteer their cemeteries as training grounds.

Star’s investment in equipment has totaled roughly $10,000 over six years, stored in the trunk of his white pickup truck. “I own more than 20 orange Home Depot buckets and keep the components, like a plastic container of special sand, ready to mix mortar at a moment’s notice,” he explained.

He began as a volunteer and, after his wife’s parents were buried in Arundel Cemetery, he found a deeper connection to the grounds. “Now that we had family there, there was a lot more connection,” he said. He joined the board of Maintain the Memory about ten years ago, launched the business in 2019, and has since expanded his skill set through MOCA’s four‑day workshop and board participation. “There’s something deeper than just fixing a stone,” he noted. “There’s an emotional aspect. I hope somebody’s doing this for my stone in a couple hundred years if it needs it.”

Star’s work has helped bring new life to other historic sites. In South Portland, the Wescott Cemetery—once a neglected space after vandals knocked over its stones in the 1980s—was restored in 2023 after a $5,000 donation from Peter and Muffet Wright. Kathy DiPhilippo, the historical society’s executive director, and Star, along with a small team of volunteers, rebuilt nearly 20 stones, including one that had been fractured into thirteen pieces. “It’s incredible,” DiPhilippo said, pointing to a headstone that now glows like a stained‑glass window in the summer light.

“Restorations usually trace back to one or two people who care,” Star said. “It just takes someone saying we need to do something.”

As Maine’s cemeteries continue to age and many remain in need of care, the partnership between professional conservators, volunteer groups, and organizations such as MOCA provides a vital bridge. Their shared goal: to preserve the memories etched into stone for generations to come.