Marian Stevenson was born in 1932 and died in 2006, but visitors to her gravesite can learn more about her life than just the dates that she lived.
A marble bench that rests next to her grave in Tucson also tells visitors that she met her husband, John, the day before her 22nd birthday, that she was devoted to her faith and that she helped run a family restaurant in Sedona. Family members, friends and complete strangers can read such information and view related images thanks to a digital memory device built into the bench.
The "graveside memory capsule" is the brainchild of John Stevenson, who wanted a way to present his wife's life accomplishments so others would not forget.
It is the latest example of how companies and inventors are trying to boost the funeral industry with emerging technology.
"When I stood there looking at her gravestone and it said 'born — dash — died' ... (I thought) that's not enough," said Stevenson, a resident of Gold Canyon in Pinal County. "This is that dash. This is her life that she actually lived during that period, and it's a part of that grave."
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Stevenson isn't the only person trying to fill that void with new high-tech devices.
Other companies are developing and selling similar tools, ranging from memory sticks that contain downloadable content, to actual viewing screens that are built in to a headstone.
The products are the result of the funeral industry's efforts to meet the personalized demands of mourners who want to commemorate, celebrate and remember their deceased relatives in their own way.
Stevenson's device comes in the form of a small, bronze-encapsulated memory stick that stores a slide show documenting Marian's life. To view the presentation, a person downloads it by connecting it to a laptop computer, PDA or other electronic device that contains memory storage with a USB cord.
Stevenson has plans to make a business around the device with his adult children.
If and when he does, he will face some serious competition.
Vidstone LLC is probably the most well-known company trying to capitalize on the multimillion-dollar funeral industry.
The Colorado company began selling its solar-powered Serenity Panel a few months ago through funeral homes and monument companies. The $1,500 device is mounted to a headstone and plays an 8-to-10-minute video about a person when a visitor opens the panel.
Eddie Alley of Houston said he spent closer to $2,000 on the Serenity Panel he bought for his wife's gravestone. The price tag didn't deter him.
"You can never do enough for people like my wife," said Alley, 62.
The arrival of devices like Vidstone's Serenity Panel and Stevenson's memory capsule makes sense considering people today want to make funerals more individualized, said Kurt Soffe, a spokesman for the Brookfield, Wis.-based National Funeral Directors Association.
"It truly is just one additional tool or offering that a family can give to other family members or friends to pay tribute to a life that's been lived," said Soffe, who co-owns a funeral home business in Utah.
Vidstone gained a lot of media exposure around 2004 and 2005 when it was testing prototypes of its Serenity Panel. Now that the company is officially selling the devices, it is trying to build awareness for the product through a marketing campaign.
Sergio Aguirre, founder and chief executive of Vidstone, said the company has sold 50 to 100 panels in the past two to three months.
Creating a visual or audio presentation about the life of a deceased person is not a new concept.
For the past several years, funeral homes have been offering services that let people create picture slide shows about their loved ones that get played during a memorial service or wake.
The option has become a regular part of a funeral package at many mortuary businesses.
"It's becoming part of the tradition," said Gilberto Moya, family service counselor at South Lawn Cemetery & Mortuary in Tucson, where Marian Stevenson is buried.
The newer gravestone devices are an extension of that practice.
"What they're trying to do is make the stone come alive, if you will," said Steve Palmer, president of the Arizona Funeral Directors Association.
But whether newer devices such as Vidstone's will take off remains to be seen.
At this point, it's not clear how widespread the demand for such products will be, simply because the industry is so new. Cost is another barrier.
Stevenson, for example, said he plans to mass-produce his capsules and sell them directly to consumers and through funeral homes.
He estimated he spent about $5,000 developing the prototype for his wife's capsule but will likely sell the devices at around $500.
Stevenson acknowledges that competition already exists but said he is not discouraged.
Although he has not begun selling his invention, he may be the first person operating in this field in Arizona.
Vidstone officials said they do not have any distributors in the state, and Palmer, who owns his own funeral-home business in Cottonwood and Camp Verde, said he was not aware of other funeral homes selling such devices.
As people demand more technologically advanced ways of commemorating their family members' lives, Palmer said, it is incumbent upon the funeral industry to adapt to new technology.
"They're turning to us to lead the way, and if we don't, I'll guarantee they'll step over us and do it on their own," he said.
