As Yorkville Memorials marks seventy-five years of serving the Mohawk Valley, third-generation owner Gina Trzepacz Timpano reflects on the legacy her family built. This legacy continues to make the company one of the region’s most trusted names in memorial craftsmanship. The story begins long before she ever sat at her grandfather’s desk sketching ideas for carved stone.
The roots of the business trace back to 1942, when her grandfather, John Trzepacz, learned the monument trade at James A. Cordiner Monument Works in New York Mills. He spent years mastering the craft of lettering and carving, and when Mr. Cordiner passed in 1959, John was already well on the path to creating something of his own. He founded Yorkville Memorials on September 26, 1949, operating first on Campbell Avenue in Yorkville on a lot beside his in-laws’ home, where the office was located inside the house. The first truck of granite arrived in October of that year. It was Barre, Vermont granite, and the business still purchases from the same region today.
In 1950, he bought his first truck, a Studebaker, to make trips to Vermont himself. Four years later, in 1954, he purchased the land on Champlin Avenue where the business still operates. He constructed a building with a sandblast booth, an overhead crane and hoist, and an indoor showroom. With help from his brothers, every stone was moved from Campbell Avenue to the new site. As the business grew, a second truck was added in 1964 to handle the steady travel for granite and supplies.
It was inside that Champlin Avenue building that Gina’s own memories were formed. Some of her favorites come from childhood. She remembers being at the “shop” with her grandfather, sitting at his desk and watching him work with families. After they left, she would doodle her ideas for how stones could be carved. She also remembers the early days in the cemetery when she and her brother were the “runners” for the wooden rollers placed under the stones to guide them into place. Today, a stone-setting machine does the heavy lifting, but those early lessons stayed with her.
Many memories come from accompanying her father as well. “My brother, John, and I used to go to the cemeteries with my dad to help with the removal of the dirt for the foundations they were working on, or picking up the boards from the crating the monuments are shipped in.”
After her grandfather passed, Gina’s father, Eugene, and her uncle Stanley carried the business forward. When Griffiss Air Force Base closed and her father was transferred, her uncle remained the daily force behind the shop. Gina built her own career working for the Utica City School District, but after becoming ill in 1992 and later recovering, her path shifted. In 2005 she joined her uncle, learning every part of the monument business, and by 2007 she was working beside him full-time.
Her uncle became her strongest mentor. “If there is a question regarding cleaning or repair, he has 60 plus years of knowledge, knowledge you could never learn in a classroom or a book.”
She also carries forward the values instilled by her grandfather. “The best advice comes from my grandfather’s teachings to me: give a quality product at a fair price and help people during a difficult time in their life.” She continues to guide families through monument planning and encourages pre-need purchases, a practice her grandfather emphasized decades ago.
Honoring the reputation built by her grandfather, father, and uncle is something she deeply treasures. Families who knew her grandfather still return, trusting the name and the care behind it. “I pride myself on the product I sell, the details and quality of the craftsmanship, and the care and compassion shown to my customers.”
These qualities of craftsmanship, integrity, and multigenerational expertise are exactly why Yorkville Memorials is recognized as one of MV’s Best.
Seventy-five years after that first shipment of Barre granite arrived on Campbell Avenue, the business remains rooted in the values that built its reputation. Gina carries that legacy forward with the same devotion that shaped her childhood and the generations before her. It is a reminder that excellence endures when it is built on care, quality, and trust.
