Always the Allens: Maryville’s Monument Makers
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Kaiden Jungwei Yu
Team Cobb
Mark Allen, 73, confronts death every day when he clocks into work. “I’ve done this for over 50 years. What else am I going to do?” says Allen, owner of Clinton Allen Monuments Inc., a tombstone company in Maryville, Mo.
Allen is a fourth-generation monument maker, and his son Chance Allen, 32, works alongside him. His great-grandfather founded the company in 1919, and the work has been passed down through the Allen lineage ever since. Chance has expressed interest in running the business and continuing the Allen family legacy, “but it’s up to the old man,” he says.
According to Mark, most of his sales are made in advance by people planning for their futures. “As far as my future, I’m in sort of a quandary of knowing what I want to do,” says Mark. “It’s something you really don’t like to think about, but I need to,” he adds, laughing.
“I don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring … I’m not scared of [death], I just don’t want to do it today,” Mark says. Mark is more than happy to keep his future unwritten for now.
Sunlight spills into the showroom of Clinton L. Monuments Inc., a gravestone design and installation company on Sept. 23, 2026, in Maryville, Mo. The company was founded in 1919.
Mark Allen, 73, and his 32-year-old son Chance move a gravestone during an installation at Saint Mary’s Cemetery. “My health is good. I help load trucks. I help letter monuments sometimes. I push things around. So far, I’m doing good,” said Mark.
Chance climbs onto his work truck during a monument installation at Saint Mary’s Cemetery.
Chance applies a rubber stencil to a gravestone before sanding it in his family workshop. Chance is a fifth-generation Allen working in the family business of designing and installing gravestones.
Fourth-generation monument maker Mark walks through his office space. Mark bought the business from his father Stewart Allen in 2005. The company is named after Mark’s grandfather, Clinton, and was founded by his great-grandfather, Stuart, in 1919.
Gravestone options are on display for customers on the front lawn of Clinton L. Allen Monuments Inc.
Sunlight illuminates gravestone options and a flower decoration in the Clinton L. Allen Monuments showroom.
A portrait of Clinton Allen, grandfather to 73-year-old Mark Allen, hangs on the wall outside of Mark’s office. “The Allens [before me] had done it all their life, so that’s what I thought I was being brought up to do,” said Mark, who has managed the business since 2005.
Chance works on a gravestone in the workshop. “I feel like the business and my family [are] a pillar in the community. It feels like I’ve got a lot to live up to, continuing the tradition,” said Chance.
Mark leaves his workshop. “I don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring … I’m not scared of [death], I just don’t want to do it today,” said Mark.
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