CHICAGO (CBS) — For more than a year nowCBS News Chicago reported on this Guest monuments—a company that has been around for over a century and was once trusted with the production of gravestones for grieving families.
CBS News Chicago has learned that Gast Monuments has gone bankrupt.
What is still unclear is what will happen to all the gravestones that were already ordered, paid for and never delivered. Some of them were still visible on Monday at one of the three former locations of Gastmonumenten.
The headstones, set behind a fence at the decades-old business, in some overgrown grass, represent the final markers for loved ones who never reached their final resting place.
“The loss is reintroduced over and over again,” said guest customer Sarah Shirley.
Shirley ordered a marker for each of her parents in 2022. This has still not been delivered by Gast Monuments.
“I know, the phone is not being answered and the website is gone. So I googled it and found your reporting,” she said.
CBS News Chicago has reported on numerous families in the same situation, some like Shirley’s, who have been forced to order a new brick from the company.
She now spends twice as much as she should.
“I feel like a loser,” Shirley said. “I feel like I did something wrong, even though I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Then there was a listing showing the Gast Monuments location in Chicago, at 1900 W. Peterson Ave., for sale. A photo showed the monuments inside the building.
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As of Monday, Gast Monuments said it was still open and operational.
In an email sent to customers, owner Katie Gast wrote: “Gast Monuments, Inc. has made the difficult decision to withdraw from the memorial industry. While this transition is a difficult one, we are confident that you will continue to receive excellent care from our trusted partners in the field… You will receive an email toward the end of the month with details regarding the transfer of your order to a new company.”
CBS News Chicago also reached out to the archdiocese of Chicagowho had previously said that Gast was not paying them the required fees needed to erect monuments. The question was what would happen to memorials that were intended for their cemeteries.
The archdiocese said in part: “Catholic cemeteries will continue to accept orders that have followed the proper application and approval process… (They) will allow families to pay the old placement fee if they originally had a contract with Gast, which is less than the current placement fee.”
CBS News Chicago also reached out to Katie Gast and her attorney. Neither responded.
