Hopkins Memorial owner finds calling in working with grieving loved ones

By Randy Grider

Some might think that working in any field associated with death is depressing.
Bobby Caraway Jr. finds it just the opposite. He calls his work a ministry. Caraway owns Hopkins Memorial in Atlanta, a company that has been in the tombstone/monument business for 107 years.
“You are dealing with broken-hearted people,” Caraway said. “But it is rewarding when you can make someone smile. This is the last thing that gets done for somebody. To be chosen for that is an honor for me. We try to do every one of the monuments like we would for our own mother or daddy or other relative.”
Caraway grew up in the business. 
His father, the late Bobby Caraway Sr., purchased the business -- which was started in 1910 by T.J. Hopkin -- from Toland Meredith in 1971.
“I have been around the business all my life. When I was little, I made [monuments], sandblasted them and set them,” Caraway said. “I just didn’t sell them or do design work.”
Caraway readily admits that by the time he was a young adult, he had other interests. 
He strayed from the family business and started his own management career in the maintenance industry.
“Back then I really didn’t care for it,” Caraway said.  “Everything I did was out in the sun, and it dealt with death primarily. As an 18 year old, that wasn’t my thing.”
In 2006, the elder Caraway experienced some health problems and he stepped back into the business to help out and look out for his father. 
When his father passed in 2014, Caraway inherited the business and has wholeheartedly devoted himself to his new career.
He works with his clients to truly make their headstones a tribute to the person who has died.
“Traditionally, people just put the person’s name and the date they were born and died,” Caraway said. 
“When talking to people, I try to encourage them to put a little more about the person because they are truly a memorial.
“While I have an office, I do most of my work out at the cemetery. I read the memorials when I am out there and try to imagine who that was and what they were like.”
Caraway said he tries to establish a relationship with grieving clients that offers understanding and hope. 
He said there is no guidebook for grieving relatives when dealing with the complexities and emotions concerning death.
“When someone comes in here, they obviously lost the love of their life and they are buying this headstone so we try to give them a new frame of mind,” Caraway said. “Rather than just being sad about it, they get to try to describe that person through this headstone. And a lot of times, you’ll see their whole countenance change through this process.
“That’s why I call it a ministry, because I’ve seen a lot of people learn to smile again through this process. It changes from being something overly sad to something that helps them cope with it.”