2023-10-30 15:58:00
The day before All Saints’ Day in the old cemetery of Saint-Georges-sur-Meuse. The first visitors are already gathering in front of their deceased flowers here and there. Géraldine Martin (40 years old) rubs the white marble of a tomb that a family has just entrusted to her as their first client. “Two weeks ago I started working as a funerary monument maintenance agent,” confides this trained optician from Angers. With my husband and children, we moved to Belgium just three months ago. to settle in Saint-Georges. It was when I saw a communication from the Commune on the decommissioning of visibly abandoned tombs that I got the idea of embarking on the cleaning, maintenance and beautification of funerary monuments . Simply, the families of the deceased do not always have the time or the possibility to take care of them. I think that the death of my dad was also a trigger two years ago in relation to the notion of respect for the deceased And then, I have always had a social fiber developed to contribute to the well-being of people. Through this job, I indirectly support people who are unable to maintain the family grave.”
Trained in Peace-God
Géraldine offers her services under the brand ProMemoria, “for their memory in Latin”. Sometimes for a “seasonal” intervention, sometimes in the form of an annual contract which will lead him to take care of the grave on several occasions. “It’s ideal. Ensure regular cleaning throughout the year to achieve flowering as All Saints’ Day approaches. I also like to add a candle, it’s my little personal touch, completes the house fairy of dead. She followed several training courses at the Paix-Dieu d’Amay heritage trade center before getting started. I first had a one-week training course in cemetery management and another two-day training course in development of cemeteries before a one-week internship in that of Aywaille. It was important in my eyes to master the regulations in this area because we cannot do what we want. We cannot maintain a monument funeral as one maintains his house! We are thus in contact with the gravedigger in charge, in a way, of the police in the cemetery. And then, there are also the implications of the decree modification in terms of acid and chemical products which can no longer be used. We are increasingly moving towards green and soothing cemeteries.”
Haro on bleach
No more question of showing up with your can of bleach even if Géraldine still sometimes comes across it in the arsenal of day cleaners who are not very aware of this “fake good idea” for maintaining graves. “Not only is it forbidden, but it also damages the marble. Look at this tomb. By maintaining it with bleach, its marble had turned black. It took me two days to get it clean once more ‘a whiteness with clay stone, linseed oil and Blanc de Meudon powder. From the latter, I make a paste with which I coat the marble and let it rest for an hour. And then, Above all, you need… arm oil.”
Redo the joints, rewrite the names
Other pipes slipped by Géraldine, prefer a soft brush to the metal brush. And make black soap your main ally to restore the “shine” of bluestone, granite and marble, knowing that you must adapt your technique and cleaning products to the type of material. Also be aware that seeking perfection can be counterproductive. “Often, people seek to completely get rid of the lichen. However, if it is not aesthetic, this fungus actually protects the monument from pollution. By wanting to go too deep in cleaning, we risk weakening the stone . Compared to the skin, I would say that you need to clean the epidermis and not the dermis.”
Sometimes, the evil is even deeper and compromises the stability of the funerary monument. Géraldine then focuses on the joints to be redone. What remains is the rewriting of the names erased by the passage of time, respecting the fonts which may have varied over time. “Indirectly, this work might help a municipality to trace the rights holders of an abandoned concession.” As for flowers for the final touch, the Saint-Georgienne will recommend “succulents which are succulent plants that do not require much maintenance”.
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