Fritz, thank you so much for sharing this with us!
It looks great!
Have you thought about asking if you can put a "positivity stone" there, but with Earl's name on it?
if you don't know, "positivity stones" are stones that are painted with a positive message on it. However, in your case, you could put Earl's first and last name on it, and maybe an expression that he was fond of.
You would paint the stone yourself, and decorate it as you wish.