The story behind GraveLink
A name. Two dates.
And a story no one will ever know.
That's what I kept thinking as I walked through a cemetery one afternoon. Row after row of headstones, each one marking a life that was fully lived, and yet reduced to just a name and two numbers carved in stone.
Where it started
I'm Ryan, the founder of GraveLink. In the winter of 2021, I was walking through a cemetery with family. That afternoon changed how I thought about memory and legacy.
Walking through the rows, I kept stopping at headstones. Names I didn't recognize. Dates spanning decades. People who had raised families, built things, loved people, struggled, laughed. And now there was nothing left to show for any of it. No story. No face. Just stone.
I thought about my own family. About the Lee family plot on my grandmother's father's side. Multiple generations buried together. People who came from Columbia Falls, Maine, and built a life on the other side of the country. Their names are on that stone. But who were they, really?
The QR code on the headstone
In 2021, I did something about it. I made a handmade QR code and placed it on that Lee family headstone. It linked to a basic family website I'd built. Nothing fancy, just enough to tell the story of who those people were. The idea was simple: anyone who came across that headstone could pull out their phone, scan the code, and actually know the people buried there.
That moment, kneeling at the stone and pressing that QR code into place, felt like the right thing to do. Like giving those names back their stories.
That original link is now dead. The QR code no longer works.
That's exactly why GraveLink needs to exist.
"A handmade QR code on a headstone was a start. But a dead link is just another kind of forgetting. GraveLink is the permanent version of that first attempt."
Why GraveLink is different
The problem with that first QR code wasn't the idea. The idea was right. The problem was that it pointed to a third-party QR code service. That service eventually shut down the code and locked it behind a paywall. I didn't abandon the memorial. The platform abandoned it.
That's the problem GraveLink solves. It's a permanent, dedicated home for memorial pages. Not a third-party service that can expire your memories or hold them hostage. Not a side project, not a personal website, not a social media profile that can be deleted. A real platform, built specifically for this purpose, designed to outlast the people who create the pages.
You pay once. Your memorial stays up forever. No subscriptions, no renewals, no expiration dates, no paywalls. The story stays alive.
What GraveLink gives you
QR Code for the Headstone
A weatherproof QR code that links directly to the memorial page. Anyone with a smartphone can scan it. No app required.
A Full Life Story
Photos, biography, timeline of life events, video tributes, and a guest book for visitors to leave messages.
Permanent Hosting
One-time payment, lifetime hosting. No subscriptions. No renewals. No dead links.
Free to Start
Create up to two memorial pages at no cost. Upgrade when you're ready for more features or additional memorials.
Our mission
Preserving the lives behind the names on the stone.
Every person buried in every cemetery lived a full life. They deserve more than two dates. GraveLink is how we give them that.
Questions, feedback, or just want to share a story? [email protected]
Ready to preserve a life?
It takes just a few minutes to create a memorial page. Start for free. No credit card required.
Create a Memorial