About Us

---

Who:
Desert Lighthouse is Stephen & Elizabeth Sugarman & family. Stephen is the candleman & casket maker. Elizabeth is chief marketer, order taker, medical transcriber, home school teacher, cook, mom, etc, etc... Our home parish is Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church in Yakima, WA.

What & When:
Desert Lighthouse was founded in 2000 as a family home business supplying Orthodox churches & others with beeswax candles. Simple pine caskets were added in 2002.

Where:
We practice our craft in a shop next to our home outside of Tieton, WA. To the West is the beautiful Cascade Mountain range with its volcanoes & ample recreation opportunities. To the East is the fertile Yakima Valley, famous for its apple industry & wineries.

With only 9" of precipitation yearly (mostly snow), the climate is similar to areas of Central Asia like Kazakstan & Mongolia. Permanent settlement in this area was made possible only through large irrigation projects built a century ago bringing water from the mountains to irrigate the rich but dry volcanic soil.

Why:
It is our aim to, first of all, make an honest living and also to aid the spread of the Orthodox faith in our own small way by providing a service to the Church and to our fellow men in general.