“It can be the smallest stone with the most basic design, but it’s helping that person and their situation— that’s the uniqueness.”
This is why Phil Ruff, a memorial craftsman and owner of Sudbury Memorial Works, does the work that he does.
Crafting monuments to help put loved ones to rest is in Phil’s blood. The business has been owned and operated by his family since 1930, but it goes back even further than that. Phil is actually the fourth generation of Ruffs to run it, with at least two previous generations creating monuments in England before moving to Sudbury. Phil is now approaching his 30th year in the field, having received his first paycheque from the family business at age 14. In addition to running Sudbury Memorial Works, he is also vice president of the Canadian Monument Builders Association.
Phil is passionate about the process of creating a monument, which starts with the granite. Phil looks for durability— how the stone carves, ages, and resists cracking. The business uses a lot of the same granite that they used 50 or even 70 years ago. “They’re tried, tested, and proven,” Phil says.
Most of their granite is then cut and polished by machines in Stanstead, Quebec, a town that’s located on the U.S.-Canadian border and is sometimes called the “Granite Capital of Canada.” The “of Canada” part is important to Phil; he heavily prefers Canadian-made, and says that he does not have faith in the quality and reliability of imported products. The vast majority of Sudbury Memorial Works’ products are produced domestically.
The business does sell some products that are made from imported materials, and Phil explains the differences and allows his customers to choose. This is his approach to the business at large. “I like to say that I don’t sell monuments— I help people find the monument that’s right for them,” he says.
After the stone is cut and polished, it might require additional polishing by hand if it’s in a special or unique shape. The next step is carving in different designs, whether they’re more traditional or require sculpture work to be done by hand. Etching is also a popular process these days, which etches photographs (such as a portrait of the loved one) right into the stone. Sudbury Memorial Works’ ability to offer all of these processes makes them fairly unique.
“There are stones that are almost entirely made by hand. It depends on what the customer picks and what that final product will look like,” says Phil. “We can do anything for our customers.”
Helping Phil out with the many intricacies of the business are his wife Yvonne, and occasionally their three children, who sometimes assist in the summer months. The business is a tight-knit crew, employing another three full-time staff members and typically 2-3 seasonal workers.
When a customer comes in, it’s Phil they will be speaking to about the monument they need. Particularly because picking a monument is a difficult time in the customers’ life, Phil believes in honesty and transparency. He says that if it’s not in his customers best interest, he will explain why and discuss alternatives. He wants to make the experience as easy as possible.
“When you can see them working through their grief and having that little bit of joy back in their life, even if it’s just for a short time… there’s no greater feeling than that.”
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