Mercene Karkadoulias, Conservator

Mercene Karkadoulias is not your average woman. Mercene is interested in, not just earning an income, but more importantly, in preserving our historical memorials and statues. As a Greek immigrant, Mercene toured the battlefield of Gettysburg in 1970 and was astonished and dismayed to see the condition many of the memorials were in. Upon inquiring why and what was being done to help clean and restore them, she was told, “Not much.” This response prompted her to go directly to the United States Department of the Interior and offer her services. The rest is history.

Since 1971, Mercene has restored monument and memorials in numerous states across the nation and is known for her outstanding work with white bronze and is a fountain specialist.

But as I said earlier, Mercene is not in this just for the money. Her spirit and enthusiasm is the first thing you notice upon meeting her. She is knowledgeable and cares enough to personally walk you through every step of the restoration process.

She owns and operates a foundry in Cincinnati Ohio. It is a family affair with even the grandchildren now showing an interest in carrying on the traditions of restoring memorials and statuary. Mercene usually travels with her daughter Kathy.

In 1994, cancer could not stop her. The sudden death of her husband and other personal hardships did not stop her. A horrendous auto accident in 1997, threatened to make her an invalid or even take her life; brain and other surgeries seem to only make her stronger.

A sampling of her efforts throughout most of the contiguous 48 states:

• Restored 12 monuments at the North Carolina Capitol
• Restored Confederate monument in Shelby, NC
• Restored Confederate monument in Sylva, NC
• Replicated a statue for a fountain in Cincinnati, OH
• Cleaned and restored Police Memorial in Cincinnati, OH
• Repaired and restored numerous statuary, a monument and a fountain in Pittsburgh, PA
• Replicated a “bow” for the fa_ade of the Engineering Building in Pittsburgh, PA
• Restored monuments for “Riverwalk” in Covington, KY
• Restored the Francis Scott Key monument in Frederick, MD
• Restored and replaced missing parts on a Civil War monument in Bessemer, AL
• Restored ALL statuary and monuments at the Capitol in Columbia, SC
• Restored a Chinese statue in St. Augustine, FL
• Did work for Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• After over 30 years, Mercene still works on Monuments at Gettysburg, PA