QR Codes On Headstones: Preserving Personalities Of Those Passed

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- You could call it a trend of modern cemeteries: technology that lets us view videos and photos of the departed.

A Twin Cities company is one of the first in the country to offer access to high tech headstones.

"You know, it's all about legacy," said Loren Taple, co-owner of Katzman Monument Company.

Legacy is something Taple knows a thing or two about. In fact, it's a concept that's fueled his family's business since 1935.

Taple and his brother recently decided to bring their grandfather's monument company into the next generation. What's known as a QR code (Quick Response Code) acts kind of like a UPC code, and when scanned, helps to color a life story.

In four steps, the loved one's memory is eternalized with a little help from the digital world.  After purchasing your QR code from Katzman Monument Company, you go to memorylinks.com where you can upload information, pictures, even video. Then, you can attach the QR code. After it's read with a free app on your phone, you can access the pictures and video right at your fingertips.

The Taples say business is good, so far. They are even seeing some leave messages for those in the future. 

Whatever your method, they say it's a way to keep the memory of the deceased alive.

"More than just the name and the date that's printed on the stone...they want to be able to have future generations come to the cemetery and really know who Grandpa was," Taple said.

QR codes are allowed in all cemeteries in Minnesota except the Fort Snelling National Cemetery, where rules say nothing is allowed to be adhered to monuments.

The QR code runs $150. To purchase a QR code, visit Katzman Monument Company. If you purchase a monument there, the QR code is included with your purchase.