About Midstate Monuments
The History behind the Experience
Midstate Monuments opened in 1949. In the early 1980s, Cheri Gallagher and Marlene Strong successfully took over ownership of the business as women in a male-dominated field, and despite not having a background in memorialization. They taught themselves all in-house production steps from designing, sandblasting, and installation of stones in the cemetery.
Their niece, Lynn Howe along with husband Randy, joined the business as part owners shortly thereafter and eventually taking over ownership in 1996. Randy worked on the sandblasting and settings, while Lynn managed the office, production, and sales.
Lynn and Randy’s daughter Jennifer Bush began working at Midstate in 1993, helping with sales, designing and production, and son Ryan Howe joining in the late 90s to help with sandblasting and memorial setting.
Jennifer’s daughter Richelle Bush joined the team in 2020, as the fourth-generation memorialist. In 2022, Stephen McDaniels, nephew to Lynn and Randy joined to help assist with sandblastings and memorial settings.
Jennifer took over ownership in 2024 upon Lynn and Randy’s retirement.
Designed & engraved in-house
Women-led company
Family owned & operated
Small local business
Designed & engraved in-house
Women-led company
Family owned & operated
Small local business
Meet Our Staff
Jennifer Bush
Owner, CEO
Jennifer has worked at Midstate for 32 years. Starting out doing design and production, she now oversees all areas of the company. Jennifer currently serves as president of the Pacific Northwest Monument Builders Association. Her favorite aspect of the job is getting to exercise her artistic side designing the memorials and seeing the completed designs out at the cemeteries.
Richelle Bush
Office Manager/Sales + Design
Richelle has worked at Midstate for 5 years. She most enjoys getting to meet with families and hear their life stories while working together to design something unique alongside her family.
Ryan Howe
Production Lead
Working at Midstate for 27 years Ryan takes great pride in sandblasting and loves getting to see all of the unique designs go through his sandblast booth.
Stephen McDaniel
Production Assistant
Stephen has worked at Midstate Monuments for 3 years. His favorite thing about the job is getting to work with his hands and completing the memorial settings at the cemetery.
Trusted By Our Clients
“Kind, caring, considerate and compassionate are the only words I can use to describe this incredible family business. Jennifer and Lynn along with the rest of their family were so patient with me and my family during this awful time of grief. There was never any pressure to make decisions. I could never thank them enough. Their work is beautiful!”
“Jennifer went over and above to help. She was extremely helpful/knowledgeable with the strict guidelines of the grounds. She worked closely with all parties to ultimately put up a beautiful custom headstone.”
“Our experience with Midstate has been wonderful. Their work is beautiful and they are very understanding and helpful. It’s difficult enough to deal with all of the details of loss and they made their part a positive experience.”
“Jennifer was a pleasure to work with at such a difficult time. She made sure our headstone was exactly what we wanted it to be and worked diligently to have it set at the graveside in time for our service. Her work was far beyond our expectations. I highly recommend Midstate Monuments to anyone!”