About Dodds

Dodds Monuments was established in 1864, when Abraham Lincoln was president. George Dodds started Dodds Monuments in downtown Xenia, Ohio. In the past 145 years many things have changed while some have remained the same. Dodds Monuments Commitment To Our Families satisfaction has never waivered. Dodds prides itself for our Courteous Memorial Counselors and what we consider is America’s Finest Warranty. Dodds is the only memorial company in the Greater Dayton area with a Complete Engraving Facility. In our engraving shop, Dodds uses only Double Process engraving on all of our light and medium color granites. Dodds Monuments is recognized nationally for specializing in the Personalization of Memorials. Families who honor Dodds Monuments with the placement of their memorials are assured full satisfaction with Dodds Money Back Guarantee.

It is easy to understand that Dodds Monuments has become one of the most respected memorial companies in the state of Ohio and among the largest memorial companies in the United States.

Commitment To Our Families

Each year, hundreds of families trust Dodds Monuments to create their memorials. Many of these families represent the third and fourth generations to choose Dodds. Others visit Dodds because their friends, neighbors and even funeral directors or cemeteries recommended they should. No matter the reason, once a family entrusts Dodds with this most lasting decision of a material nature a family will ever make, every possible effort will be made to warrant that decision. We, at Dodds, know that your memorial will represent your family for generations to come.

Courteous Memorial Counselors

Few memorial companies in America have gone to the extent of Dodds Monuments in training our Memorial Counselors. Continual training in the latest advances in technology and new granites available, assure our families they will always have every option available to them. Training in understanding the grief a family is experiencing also allows a family to know that when they work with a memorial counselor at Dodds Monuments, they will be treated with respect, compassion and understanding.

America’s Finest Warranty

Dodds Monuments is one of the only retail memorial companies in the United States to back it’s Guarantee by a Trust Fund. Dodds offers it’s own Seal Marked line of memorials; “Dodds Diamond” and “Dodds Everlasting”. In each of these top quality lines of memorials, a portion of the sale is placed in a trust fund at 5/3 Bank in Dayton, Ohio. Ask your Memorial Counselor for details.

Complete Engraving Facility

Years ago, all monument companies engraved their own memorials. It allowed them to work with a family from the time the memorial design was selected, to completion of engraving. Over time, most memorial companies have become order takers, with no real investment in the memorial industry, and turn the most important process of your memorial over to out of state companies and craftsmen they have probably never met. Dodds has one of the very few engraving shops left in Southwest Ohio.

Double Process

On many polished memorials you will notice a light, unpolished block, or “panel”, around the names. The polish has been sandblasted off to better read the names. There are two ways to achieve this, Single Process and Double Process. Single Process engraving is quicker, though undesirable. In this process, the letters are deeply sandblasted into the polish first, and then the polish is sandblasted off, over top the letters, to create the panel. The problem with Single Processing is the letters are left without a crisp clean edge, and most times are actually painted black to make them more visible. Over time, this paint will chip and wear, leaving the memorial unsightly.

Dodds Monuments never uses Single Processing on deep cut lettering or designs. Dodds chooses to use Double Process engraving. This is achieved by first creating the panel through sandblasting, and then sandblasting a second time, deep cutting the letters. This leaves the lettering with crisp clean edges and far more visible. By always using double processing deep cut lettering and designs, and choosing not to use black paint, we are creating better quality and maintenance free memorials. For generations to come, we want your memorial to look as good as it did the day we installed it.

Personalization of Memorials

Next to quality, Dodds takes the most pride in offering a variety of personalization options. Dodds provides families the opportunity to take pictures, passions and memories of loved ones and create lasting works of art. Let our artist create a hand etched, laser etched or custom sandblast design for you.