QR codes bring cemeteries to 21st century

New technology allows easier searches, memorial postings and more in digital formats onsite and away

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The City of Seward’s cemeteries are making it easier than ever to find and remember loved ones. 

The City of Seward owns three cemeteries: The Seward Cemetery, The Anderson Cemetery and The Greenwood Cemetery. Earlier this year, these cemeteries added a convenient way for people to locate specific burials.

John Brandl, a member of the Cemetery Board, said the move was inspired by an outdated system where people looking for specific burial sites had to check the cemetery kiosk for the information.

“We've been looking for a while because we were working off literally old recipe cards and giant 10 pound – as I call them ‘Harry Potter books’ – with all our information, so very old school,” Brandl said.

Brandl said he and Kent Chelewski were placed on the cemetery board with no background in the industry. He said looking at the systems in place with a fresh set of eyes inspired a search for a mapping service they could use for the undertaking. Brandl and Chelewski settled on Web Cemeteries, which Brandl said is also used by cemeteries in Omaha.

Chelewski said the two made the decision in January of this year, and the program was officially rolled out three months later.

The site can be accessed by either scanning one of the on-site QR codes with a smartphone camera or found online under Cemetery Information on the City of Seward’s website, and allows users to search for burials by name, giving the full location.

“Instead of going to the kiosk or the information center that we have outside and looking in the old book, and then looking on the old map that's plastered behind the plexiglass and then trying to figure out where you're at, you just open up your phone and point your camera at it,” Brandl said.

Additionally, the site features a page for each burial containing information such as birth and death date, as well as the obituary, if available. Users are able to post digital memorials, including comments, photos and videos of the deceased for others to see on the page.

Brandl said this will allow for mourners to have an easier time seeing memories of their loved ones, some of which they might not have known existed.

“So when you pull up that information, you see their picture, you see the obituary that we add in there when we put them in at the burial, and then families can add photos, videos, notes, memories, whatsoever to that program,” Brandl said. “When that person is brought up by anybody, all that can be seen.”

Brandl said the digital memorials undergo moderation before they appear public on the page, as a means to avoid inappropriate posts, though it has yet to happen.

The cemetery board has also brought a fresh pair of eyes to other areas of cemetery operations as well. Brandl said they now have an iPad they can use to help people choose and purchase plots without having to do paperwork in the office.

“If we have a family that wants to buy a plot, we can do it right then and there with them,” he said.

The QR code system is also slated to provide more than ease of access to loved ones' burials. Chelewski said the next step in the project is implementing digital tours throughout the cemeteries, giving people directions to graves of notable people. Routes through cemeteries that would normally require a map or several signposts can now be conveniently pulled up on a smartphone.

In addition to the QR codes, Brandl said the cemetery board is also searching for antique military equipment to decorate the Veterans’ Memorial in Seward. He said the project has been approved, and the next step is making it happen.

Brandl said the cemetery recently added a Civil War monument for Joe Gannon. Changes like these are what Brandl said he and Chelewski are happy to see with the city’s cemeteries.

“Just little things like that that are happening that hadn't happened in the cemetery for a very long time,” Brandl said. “I'm glad we're making positive changes.”