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Andre Dominguez cleans tombstones at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez excavates a buried headstone in preparation to have it put back in place at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez excavates a buried headstone in preparation to have it put back in place at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez holds a book on family lineage he created at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez excavates a buried headstone in preparation to have it put back in place at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez cleans tombstones at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez cleans tombstones at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez excavates a buried headstone in preparation to have it put back in place at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez excavates a buried headstone in preparation to have it put back in place at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez holds a book on family lineage he created at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez excavates a buried headstone in preparation to have it put back in place at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Andre Dominguez cleans tombstones at Rohrerstown Cemetary in Lancaster on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Many people who visit cemeteries mourn, pray or pay their respects. Lancaster native Andre Dominguez adds one more reason to that list. He often goes to graveyards to solve mysteries.

Dominguez spends much of his time locating, photographing and documenting Lancaster County graves for the Find a Grave website (findagrave.com). Owned by Ancestry.com, the grave website matches people looking for lost relatives to volunteers who can walk graveyards and conduct research.

The genealogist discovered the website while researching his own ancestors. That hobby turned into volunteer work, and the 74-year-old has found and studied many graves in Lancaster County. He also cleans and repairs headstones.

“Basically, my initial interest was my family,” the former systems engineer and nuclear plant manager explains. Dominguez’s father hailed from Chile, while his mother came from Hershey. He began studying his relatives before he and his wife moved to Homestead Village, a retirement community, in 2012.

In addition, Dominguez takes on about one to two paid clients each year who ask him to research their ancestors. He charges about $50 an hour for research. The actual cost of printing and binding a hardback book is around $40.

Dominguez uses word of mouth instead of advertisements. “I like to have fun,” he says. “It’s more than fascinating. It’s exhilarating.”

No trees shade the weather-beaten headstones at the Rohrerstown Lutheran & Reformed Cemetery at Wood and Walnut streets. No sounds disturb the morning stillness as temperatures climb into the upper 80s.

“This is a typical day for me,” says Dominguez, as he kneels before a marble headstone and gently trims the grass around it. Lichen and time have worn down the letters and dates. “I can’t tell for sure what’s going on down here.” He sprays the stone with water and uses a soft bristle brush, found at any grocery store, to carefully brush away debris.

Like a Polaroid picture, letters and dates begin to appear, becoming clearer as the stone dries in the sun. Lillie Dull, born in 1881, lived 10 months and two days, the headstone now reveals. The wording, Dominguez says, will be visible for about a month before debris, weather and nature obscure the writing again. Dominguez cleans another marble grave to show that Eliner H. Harmen, born May 1, 1884, died at age 7 on July 15, 1891.

Dominguez also repairs stones. He stops near a headstone flat on the ground and partially covered with grass. “Who is it? Where does it belong?” he asks.

He carefully digs up the growth around the slab with a plastic trowel, gently laying the pieces of earth separately so he can put them back after he’s done. “You don’t want to do anything that will damage the stone,” Dominguez explains.

Once the weathered marble is visible, Dominguez first takes out a prybar to lift the headstone but then decides he can use his arms to place it on nearby grass. “We want to be as specific as possible,” he says as he measures the stone.

Dominguez eventually will fill out a data profile after he cleans the stone that will include the type of writing — engraved or raised letters — the measurements, the orientation — this one faces west — and the shape of the tablet — this one has a slight arch. He will also note the person’s name, and dates of birth and death.

Although Dominguez usually completes cleaning or repairing solo, others have noticed.

“The quality of his work is excellent, and he’s very fastidious,” says Tim Breneisen, president of the cemetery association for the Rohrerstown Lutheran & Reformed Cemetery. “I’m learning a lot from him.”

Breneisen has accompanied Dominguez to workshops dedicated to preserving headstones.

Breneisen says Dominguez has stopped at every stone in the cemetery to record inscriptions. The cemetery is an independent corporation whose board members are appointed by Holy Spirit Lutheran Church and the Church of Christ.

“He helps to restore graves. He’ll take water and he’ll scrub. He does research,” the cemetery president says.

Nathan Pease, who formerly directed LancasterHistory’s research center, says Dominguez often volunteered to help others at the library.

“This guy’s a real genealogist, and he’s willing to share his knowledge,” Pease says. “The products he creates are professional level.”

Pease often would see Dominguez at the research center, poring over a microfilm machine, reading newspapers from the early 1800s, before publications separated out obituary sections. Pease says he noticed Dominguez looking for marriages, deaths, baptisms and other genealogical information.

One day, Pease says, he walked over to chat. “I would ask him questions. It became this back and forth,” he says. “What Andre is doing is big in terms of pulling out all this genealogist work. I would go hit him up for information.”

Although Dominguez volunteers most of his time, he does charge people to research and create a family tree that includes pictures and information about ancestors and descendants.

“He’s just beyond anything you can imagine in his expertise and knowledge,” says Susan Kirk of Bushkill Township, Northampton County.

Dominguez researched and created a 262-page hardback book that traces Kirk’s father and his family from 1774 until 2016. Dominguez created this book for free because he and Kirk met in junior high school and continue a friendship.

“I was flabbergasted,” Kirk says when she received the volume during the pandemic. She grew up knowing about genealogy because her mother’s family has seven volumes of documentation. “It always bothered me that I knew so little about my father’s family.”

Dominguez’s research unearthed Kirk’s relatives who died while fighting in the Revolutionary War and who are buried in Lower Saucon Township.

Says Kirk: “Andre is never afraid to take the next step, to learn something, to get involved.”

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