Angie Bonds said the creation of a fallen hero’s monument was ‘personal’
On a hot June morning with a brilliant blue sky beaming down on Lincoln Heights Cemetery, it is so easy to see all the little details of Tyshon Dye’s monument.
There are so many to consider ... Tyshon’s smile sticks out, as does the big orange Tiger paw and the Blue Devil.
And if you stand there in what seems to be the absolute center of the cemetery long enough, there are enough details on Tyshon’s monument to keep you looking and smiling for hours.
That was the idea, says Angie Bonds.
“I wanted to get every little detail just right,” she explains. “It was personal.”
Angie, who identifies with Quality Monument Sales Inc., said her work wasn’t done with anything in mind other than her friend and Tyshon’s mother, Peggy.
A year ago on July 5, Tyshon drowned at the Lake Russell State Park swimming area during a family gathering.
The news of his death stunned family and friends and fans from his Blue Devils days, his Clemson Tiger days and his East Carolina Pirate days.
An outpouring of love for the family came from all directions, and Angie said that everyone she asked in the granite industry to participate in putting together a monument for Tyshon said “yes.”
An extensive list of participants in the creation of the monument were featured recently in the cover story in the Elberton Granite Association’s Spring 2020 edition of “The Graniteer.”
“We were pleased with the response we got from everybody in the community,” said Bonds.
In the list of participants in the creation of the monument Bonds wanted to make sure got recognition for the effort included Kay Rhodes (Quality Monument), Jonathan Rhodes (Quality Monument), Marc Rhodes (Quality Monument), Marcus and Angie Bonds (Quality Monument), Branson Bonds (Quality Monument), Lexi Bryant (Quality Monument), Quinn Floyd (AQ Stone), Rick Adams and Mark Adams (Star Granite and Bronze/Matthews International), Sandi Scales (Century Harmony), Tanner Lewis (Porcelain Unlimited), Tal Swygert (Quality Monument) and Ric and Amber Dixon (Petal Pusher Florist).
And that list, of course, includes Angie Bonds’ friend, Peggy Dye.
“We are close ... very close,” said Bonds.