Larry Blank joined his father's backhoe service in 1964 after returning from serving in the Marine Corps. In 1983, Blank and his wife Jane took over the business and have kept it going. Currently Blank works with his son Tyler doing grave digging, waterline and sewer line repair along with selling black dirt. He said in the early years while working with his father, they would do dynamiting, putting in sewer mains and rock drilling and blasting.
"We have been doing funerals since 1965," Blank said. "We do the best we can to keep going. People like for their graves to look nice and I try to keep them nice. After we are done with the burial, we take care of them until we have grass seed planted on them and then watch them through the years. There are a lot more which goes into it than meets the eye."
For more of this story check out the Oct. 12 issue of the California Democrat.