Jeff has been in this trade since he was a teenager. In 1997, he founded Vermont Monument Company in Morrisville and built it into a successful operation before selling it. He later owned and operated both a memorial business and a sporting goods business in northern New York before returning to the monument industry full time and joining Champlain Monuments in 2019.
He brings deep industry knowledge, long-standing supplier relationships, and a clear read on pricing and supply. That background means straightforward answers for families — no surprises, no runaround.
Jeff leads day-to-day operations at Vermont Monuments in Morrisville while staying closely involved at Champlain Monuments. He moves between Morrisville, South Burlington, and St. Albans throughout the week, wherever families and projects need him.
He cares most about working directly with families — from the first conversation through final installation, he stays involved. Outside the office, he works in the field alongside the crew and independently: foundations, lettering, cleaning, installations.
Sawyer grew up in this trade and joined Champlain Monuments full time in 2017. He oversees operations, strategy, and accounting, while staying closely involved day to day — across the office, shop, and field.
He leads on-site lettering and restoration: death dates, custom inscriptions, larger cemetery projects with towns and preservation commissions. Much of his energy goes into pushing the company forward — rethinking what a monument business can be for the next generation.
Alan joined Champlain Monuments in 2021, bringing several years of memorial work experience. His specialty is the foundation and setting work that determines how a monument stands for generations.
He handles new settings, replacements, resets, and field repairs — steady, detail-oriented, and especially strong on the structural work that makes everything else last.
PLATE 05
Robert “Robb” Hamilton
Foundations · Installations · Repair
Robb's work centers on foundations, installations, and repair — with a particular draw toward cemetery restoration. His approach is patient and methodical, well suited to the more delicate work restoration requires.
He especially values restoration projects, where older monuments call for care and a slower pace. Whatever the stone, his focus is on leaving it right.
History
The roots of Champlain Monuments trace back to the 1880s
The business that became Champlain Monuments traces back to the 1880s, when W.M. Barrett Marble and Granite Works operated from 48 Federal Street in St. Albans, at the foot of Kingman Street near the railroad. That location made deliveries from Barre and Proctor practical, and the shop remained active through the turn of the century and well beyond.
PLATE 01 W.M. Barrett Marble and Granite Works at 48 Federal Street — the original Saint Albans monument shop
PLATE 02 Historical newspaper clipping referencing Taylor Park, Saint Albans
Many of the memorials produced in those early years still stand in cemeteries across the region.
PLATE 03 Champlain Monuments archival photograph
After William Barrett died in 1942, the business continued under other ownership — including a long stretch as Champlain Memorials under George Buckley through the 1960s. In 1973, James B. Pignona purchased the company.
Jeff B. Pignona took over soon after and established the Champlain Monuments known today. From the mid-1970s through 2000, he worked from the same Federal Street building that had housed the trade for generations. In 2000, Champlain Monuments moved to its current location at 848 Sheldon Road in St. Albans — more space for display, fabrication, and the day-to-day work of the shop.
PLATE 04 A Champlain Monuments crew setting a monument
PLATE 05 The crew on a residential install, with James Pignona second from the right
Over the following decades, Jeff B. built the company's standing across Northern Vermont through work set properly, built to last, and now familiar in cemeteries throughout the region.
PLATE 06 Jeff Bell Pignona setting up a sandblast on a stone in a rural Vermont cemetery
PLATE 07 Setting a wrapped Eveready Battery Company commemorative monument with the Champlain Monuments van and a backhoe on site
In 2019, Jeff R. Pignona purchased the business — bringing much of his career in the trade with him, including time working alongside Jeff B. and running his own monument companies. He took over with the same long view of the work. Today, he runs Champlain Monuments with his sons, Jeffrey and Sawyer.
PLATE 08 Champlain Monuments crane and van on a Swanton job site
PLATE 09 Jeff Pignona Jr. and Sawyer Pignona as children, pouring a monument foundation — the fourth generation on a job site
