Stonemason sees Action News story, creates monument to lost souls

GLADWYNE, Pa. (WPVI) -- We have an update now to a story that we first brought you right here on Action News at 5, a little more than a year ago.

It's a story that led to a beautiful and emotional moment on Wednesday at a Jewish cemetery in Gladwyne.

Hundreds of broken headstones, dating back to the 1860s, were lying in disrepair.

MORE | Organization works to preserve 125 years of history at Montgomery County cemetery

A local stonemason was so inspired by our story and volunteered to help.

"It started by me seeing a newscast on 6abc one afternoon," says semi-retired stonemason Greg Jehanian.

It was our story about Har Hasetim, a Jewish cemetery in Gladwyne, where volunteers are working tirelessly to restore dignity to broken headstones.

He immediately volunteered to help.

"I have some skills that I could put to use here," he says. "I saw the work ahead, and I figured they could really use my help."

The Friends of Har Hasetim Jewish Memorial Cemetery had an idea.

They asked: "Do you think you can make a memorial, sort of like the Unknown Soldiers Memorial?"

"I said, 'I'd love to do it,'" Jehanian says.

So he got to work on a Monument to Lost Souls.

"I got to chipping away," he says.

Roughly two months and 120 hours later, the monument came to life.

"It was something that really meant a lot to me."

As they dedicated this emotional monument to the lost souls, Har Hasetim thanked Jehanian for his hard work, his heart.

"It was meant to be," says Adam Buchanan, the president of Friends of Har Hasetim Jewish Memorial Cemetery.

"To be able to honor those people who are interred here, who have stones of their own, it just means a ton to us."

Jehanian was a stone mason on some of the most important buildings in Center City, including City Hall.

"Building after building after building," he says. "I enjoyed my work. I really enjoyed doing it. This was something different. This is the pinnacle for me, because I've never done a memorial."

And now, with this monument to lost souls, hundreds, maybe thousands of stories, are restored and retold.

"It does a stonemason's heart good," he says. "I'll tell you that."

Jehanian's next project at the cemetery is the restoration of the headstone belonging to Benjamin Shore, a WWI veteran, and the last burial at Har Hasetim in 1945.