Two Westport men return life to the cemetery 

Tender care is in action — TNT Gravestone Solutions brings new life to Newman Cemetery in East Providence this spring 

By Michelle Mercure 
Posted 1/17/25

A single slab of white stone sits somewhat angled in the middle of Linden Grove Cemetery in Westport. No one knows exactly why this stone faces the opposite direction of most others, which are lined …

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Two Westport men return life to the cemetery 

Tender care is in action — TNT Gravestone Solutions brings new life to Newman Cemetery in East Providence this spring 

Posted

A single slab of white stone sits somewhat angled in the middle of Linden Grove Cemetery in Westport. No one knows exactly why this stone faces the opposite direction of most others, which are lined up in neat rows like silent sentinels. Its name — Margaret Toward — used to be face down on the ground, until two men came along and resurrected the headstone, giving life back to the name on it. 

Why does this stone face the wrong way? The answer may never be known, but for two local men, the mystery of the grave only deepens their mission to restore the stories of those who have been forgotten. Restoring the headstones is just the beginning. Todd Baptista and Troy Rebello, co-owners of TNT Gravestone Solutions, have made it their life’s work to breathe new life into the gravestones of Westport’s historic cemeteries — and beyond. 

“When a stone is about to be raised, my hands go up and I say the name of the person on the stone,” said Baptista, a clinical pharmacist and Westport resident who is also a group leader for gravestone cleaning in the town. “For me, when we go in there, it’s not just a stone. It’s about the people who are there,” echoed Rebello, who partners with Baptista on the restoration process. “I don’t know how it started, but whenever I raise someone’s stone, I say their name aloud. If you say the name of the person, you bring them back to life,” he added. 

The stone that faces a different way than the others was repaired by Baptista and Rebello. The woman buried there was a young British immigrant who came to the United States and landed in Westport in 1898. She died just seven weeks later from esophageal cancer at age 27, with no money for a proper burial. Most people are buried east to west, but this grave faces north to south, possibly due to the terrain, according to Baptista. It is just one of the stories uncovered by Baptista and Rebello, who have become somewhat of historians of the cemeteries they rebuild. 

The restoration process gets complicated  

Baptista’s passion for gravestone restoration began when he met Betty Slade through the Westport Historical Society. What started as a small group of volunteers focused on cleaning the cemeteries in Westport grew into a much larger project that included restoration as well, when Baptista realized more work needed to be done — and done properly.  

“It’s like cleaning teeth,” he said. “It’s like someone who hasn’t been to the dentist in 20 years. Once you clean the teeth, you notice the broken ones,” he added. “And it was like that with the cemetery. The broken stones really stood out after the cleaning process was finished,” explained Baptista. He realized that after cleaning the stones, there was so much more to be done — and it needed to be done properly.  

The work required specific training, which Baptista didn’t have at the time. With Slade’s help, they secured funding, a partnership with Rebello was formed, and cemeteries in Westport began to be cleaned and repaired properly. Eventually, other communities took interest, and Baptista and Rebello founded TNT Gravestone Solutions.  

While they still clean and restore cemeteries for free in Westport, they take on jobs in other communities through their business. They’re headed to East Providence this spring to restore Newman Cemetery. What remains most interesting about their services is their intent to find out the stories of the people they restore life to with their “resurrected” headstones.  

Read some of the stories Todd and Troy have unearthed.

One story from last year stood out to Baptista and Rebello. They restored a grave for a cousin of Lizzie Borden. They didn’t know at the time that the man who hired them was terminally ill. One of his final wishes was to see his ancestors’ graves restored. “Sadly, he passed away before seeing the work completed, but his widow later reached out,” Baptista recalled, adding “She said, ‘He would have loved it.’ ”  

Baptista and Rebello’s passion for their work and their personal fondness of Linden Grove Cemetery has led them to petition for their own burial plots there.

“We want to live here,” Baptista said with a huge smile, pointing to the spot they’ve chosen for themselves.  

Space in the cemetery is limited, with around 1,250 people buried there. As Baptista put it, “There are about 1,250 souls here,” emphasizing that life still exists in these resting places.

2025 by East Bay Media Group

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.