The Story Behind MyEMemorial

People often ask me what inspired me to create MyEMemorial. The truth is, the original seed was planted more than fifty years ago.

I was in seventh grade at Saint Peter's Parochial School in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. One day in late spring, one of the nuns assigned three other boys and me to trim the grass and weeds around the entire cemetery fence beside the school. Two of us worked inside the fence while the other two worked outside, using manual hedge trimmers.

As I worked, I found myself looking at some of the old gravestones. Many were weathered, and some were so worn that the names and dates were difficult to read. I remember thinking:

"Who was this person? How long did they live? How sad that someone lived an entire life, and now all that remains is this weathered, unreadable stone?"

That thought stayed with me.

Growing up outside Elizabethtown, my family often drove country roads to Rheems, Pennsylvania, where I played Little League baseball and where my father worked. Along the way, we passed a small old cemetery. Whenever I looked at those stones, the same questions came to mind.

Over the years, as I attended funerals and visited cemeteries, I would see older gravestones and ask myself:

"Who was this person? What were they like? What would they think if they could see their stone today and know that this is all that remains to represent their life?"

Years later, the Internet arrived, and I realized that technology could provide a better answer. I thought about creating a memorial website, but the cost of having one developed was far beyond my means.

Then, after retiring from twenty-five years in real estate sales and attending a continuing education course that introduced me to artificial intelligence, something clicked. I realized that, with the help of AI, I could finally bring this lifelong vision to life.

My goal was not simply to create another obituary website.

I wanted to create a place where future generations could truly get to know the person being remembered — a place filled with photographs, videos, life stories, family history, favorite music, newspaper clippings, awards, and memories shared by family and friends.

I also wanted people to have the opportunity to create their own memorial while they are still living — to tell their story in their own words and in their own way. Then, after they pass, a trusted person can publish their memorial and add an obituary and any additional photos, videos, and memories.

In my opinion, there is no better way to preserve your life story.

Today, MyEMemorial exists because of a question that first entered my mind as a seventh grader standing in a cemetery more than half a century ago:

"Who was this person?"

My hope is that, through MyEMemorial, future generations will never have to ask that question again.