Lacky & Sons Monuments was founded in 1892 by John William Lacky. The original location was in Lewistown, Illinois. Ivan Lacky, John’s son, opened a branch office in Monmouth at 701 West Broadway during 1917. The two men then combined to open an office in Galesburg in 1923. The Galesburg location was purchased at 150 West Main Street, which has been operating since. The company had three outlets until the mid 1930’s when the Lewistown and Monmouth locations were closed.

Ivan’s sons, Paul & Charles Lacky, joined the family business in 1933. Ivan, Paul & Charles ran the business from the 150 West Main Street location until Ivan’s retirement in 1960. The sons then continued in the business until 1981 when the business was sold to Harvey & Sharon Ponder.

Harvey & Sharon have continued the Lacky family tradition by modernizing equipment and expanding the range of the company. In 1985 an existing monument company was purchased in Kewanee. The name of the company, Baughman Monuments, was kept for local identity. Another branch outlet was opened during 1991 in Macomb at 1502 West Jackson Street. The Kewanee and Macomb stores are retail outlets with indoor and outdoor viewing areas. With these retail locations, the overall customer range has been expanded greatly. Currently the company serves areas between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and as far as Sterling Rock Falls to the North and Quincy to the south. All memorials are lettered at the Galesburg lettering shop and transported to the cemetery from there.

Carrying on with the tradition, three sons joined Harvey & Sharon in the business. In the late 80’s Jon & Chad Ponder began working with their parents in different aspects of the company. Currently Harvey oversees all aspects including sales, purchasing and still has a very hands on approach. Sharon is in charge of bookkeeping, payroll, and customer relations. Chad has taken over the cemetery lettering operation and also heads the monument setting division. Jon is involved in computer design of the monuments and sales. Drew Ponder is currently managing the Macomb store and helping in Galesburg wherever needed. Lacky Monument currently has six full time employees besides the four family owners.

The largest project in the company’s history was the move to 149 West Main Street. The building became available in late 2001 due to the move of the Buick car dealership. The building was purchased in December 2001, and renovations began immediately. The full operation is now operating at the new location. The new large facility has enabled for more capacity in the indoor showroom, lettering shop, and warehouse. A computer driven laser etching machine is the latest upgrade in technology.

Lacky Monument looks to the future and is fully equipped to meet larger demands while keeping with the personal touch from the past.