Careers are often built on long-term plans—years of preparation guided by a clear sense of direction. For Cameron Guest, that direction once pointed squarely toward competitive athletics. As a running back at McMaster University, his life followed a familiar rhythm of training schedules, team meetings, and game-day focus. Football wasn’t just a passion; it was an identity shaped by discipline, teamwork, and the pursuit of excellence.
That identity, however, began to shift in 2021 when Cameron’s father was diagnosed with multiple forms of cancer. What followed was not a dramatic pivot, but a gradual, deeply personal realization that some responsibilities outweigh even the most carefully built ambitions.
“There are moments where priorities clarify themselves,” Cameron says. “Football meant a lot to me, but my family needed me in a way the game never could.”
Stepping away from university athletics is no small decision, especially for someone immersed in a competitive program. For Cameron, it meant leaving behind a future that had been carefully constructed over years of effort. But as his father’s health declined, the choice became unavoidable.
Cameron’s father was the owner of C&L Cemetery Lettering Inc., a business built on specialized engraving and monument restoration work across Southwestern Ontario. Operating from a mobile unit, he spent decades restoring inscriptions, re-engraving faded lettering, and preserving memorials for families—often working quietly behind the scenes in local cemeteries.
As illness limited his father’s ability to work, Cameron stepped in.
“I didn’t come into it thinking about entrepreneurship,” Cameron explains. “At first, it was about responsibility—keeping things running and being present when my family needed support.”
Unlike many professions, monument engraving offers little margin for error. Each project is permanent, deeply personal, and emotionally significant to the families involved. Cameron quickly learned that the technical aspects of the work—sandblasting, lettering depth, layout, spacing—were only part of the responsibility.
“There’s a human side to this work that you can’t ignore,” he says. “You’re working with families during moments of grief. That requires patience, empathy, and respect.”
Working alongside his father, Cameron learned not just how to engrave stone, but how to approach families, how to listen, and how to understand the weight carried by even small design decisions. That year became both an apprenticeship and a period of quiet preparation—one Cameron didn’t yet realize would shape his future.
“My dad didn’t expect things to progress as quickly as they did,” Cameron reflects. “But there was mutual respect. I think he knew I was stepping up to protect something important.”
After his father’s passing, Cameron and his mother faced a familiar crossroads for family-run businesses: continue operating exactly as before, or evolve.
For many, maintaining the existing mobile lettering service would have been the simplest path. But Cameron saw an opportunity to expand—not for growth’s sake, but to improve how families experience the memorial process as a whole.
In October 2023, that vision took physical form with the opening of Forest City Memorials, a showroom and monument making facility located in London, Ontario.
“It was a complete reset in many ways,” Cameron explains. “New equipment, a showroom, new supplier relationships, new systems. We weren’t just continuing—we were building something different.”
The decision carried risk, both financial and emotional. But it also allowed Cameron to bring the entire process—design, engraving, restoration, and consultation—under one roof.
One of the first things Cameron noticed when interacting directly with families was how unfamiliar the process felt to them. Many assumed they had to work exclusively through cemeteries, unaware that independent monument makers existed or that customization was even an option.
“People often come in feeling overwhelmed,” Cameron says. “They’re navigating grief, and at the same time, they’re expected to make decisions they’ve never had to think about before.”
At Forest City Memorials, the approach is intentionally unhurried. Consultations are treated as conversations rather than transactions. Families are encouraged to share stories, reflect on their loved one’s life, and take time before finalizing decisions.
“There’s something healing about being able to talk,” Cameron explains. “Sometimes the design comes naturally after that. Sometimes it takes a few visits. That’s okay.”
By removing pressure from the process, Cameron aims to transform what can feel like a cold, administrative task into something more meaningful and personal.
In an industry where outsourcing and standardized designs are common, Cameron has committed to local production. His team designs and engraves monuments on-site, allowing for greater quality control and deeper personalization.
Each memorial is treated as a unique project, with careful attention paid to layout, typography, symbolism, and finish. Whether restoring historic monuments or creating new designs, the focus remains the same: authenticity.
“Our goal is to make cemeteries beautiful again,” Cameron says. “Not just visually, but emotionally. These spaces should reflect real lives, real stories, and real connections.”
That commitment has resonated strongly within the London community. Much of the company’s growth has come through word of mouth—families sharing their experiences with others facing similar loss.
Despite the expansion, Cameron remains closely involved in daily operations. He meets with families, oversees engraving and restoration work, and remains hands-on throughout the process.
“I don’t want this to feel like a distant operation,” he says. “People trust us with something incredibly important. Being present matters.”
That presence has helped foster a sense of familiarity. Families often return for additional engraving, restoration, or simply to check in—an uncommon dynamic in an industry typically marked by one-time interactions.
“Sometimes people just stop by to talk,” Cameron adds. “Knowing they felt supported—that’s what makes this work meaningful.”
For Cameron, the work carries a significance that extends beyond business success. Each monument represents not only the life being remembered, but also the values his father instilled—dedication, craftsmanship, and respect for others.
“What my dad started didn’t end when he passed,” Cameron reflects. “It changed form. I see his legacy in the work we do every day.”
From the football field to the workshop floor, Cameron Guest’s journey is one defined not by abandoning ambition, but by redefining it. By choosing responsibility, empathy, and purpose, he transformed personal loss into a vocation rooted in service—demonstrating that the strongest legacies are not always the ones we plan, but the ones we choose to build when life asks us to step up.
