Make Your Own Online Tombstone

OK, you simply have to see this one! I've written before about web sites that will generate signs or pictures containing text that you enter. Now there's one of interest to genealogists: make your own tombstone.

You simply go to the web site, enter up to three lines of short text, click on the BURY IT button and a picture of a tombstone soon appears on your screen. The stone contains the words you just entered.

You can right click on the image and then save it to your hard drive. (Macintosh users should hold down the control key as you click.)  You can then import the image into a word document, a genealogy program, a personal web site or even into an e-mail message you wish to send.

You can see an example of a "homemade" tombstone at the top of this article. Double-click on the image to see a larger example. To make your own tombstone, go to http://tinyurl.com/2ynvop.

Here's a challenge. If you will submit humorous or otherwise interesting words for use on a tombstone and post those words in the comments section below, I will change the above image every day to reflect one of the latest submissions. Two weeks from today, I will change it to whatever I deem to be the funniest or most interesting tombstone message received and will leave that image online here forever. Here's your chance to have your words etched in (digital) stone!

Please post your submissions below.

Comments

[Dave]

Dick:

Interesting generator...I just hope that it doesn't lead to lazy RAOGK'ers going to this site rather than getting an actual gravestone photograph :)

[Paula Kelley Ward]

Genealogists never die - they just haunt cemeteries

Genealogy is all relative in the end

Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards

Someday YOU'LL be an ancestor too!

[Aiko]

Hi Dick,

This is really funny !

For about a month now I have a script on my site to give everyone a chance to generate their own "noble ancestor tree". Looking at the number of visitors until now it seems genealogists aren't always that serious :-)

Have a look at: http://www.atgp.nl/genea/peculiarformeng.html

Maybe worth a small article too??

Cheers,
Aiko

[Becky Wiseman]

Family Historian ~ Within Her Head ~ Ancestors Danced
and
Genealogy ~ Not Fatal ~ But it is a Grave Disease

You can see these on my blog:
http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2007/07/have-some-fun-make-your-own-tombstone.html

[Mark Roy]

I used to look for
ancestors
Now I am one

[Mary Grindol]

Finally
I'm Thin
And Resting

Comment: It came up and looked great! I've been on one diet or another for nearly 65 years.

[Don Lama]

This Genealogist
Braked Here
Once Too Often

[Linda Swisher]

Here lies
Felix Fibber
He was an ad libber
------
A Grave Matter
gina genealogist
rubbed me the wrong way
------
Here Lies
Stubborn Sue
had to have the last word

-------
Lucky Lucy
Lottery Winner
I took it with me

[Susan]

Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust.
Tried for just one more generation
'til I went bust!

[Karen]

My two tombstone epitaphs are:
I love dogs
Muttly.com
2 Paw Prints to 11,000 Paw P
and for the finale..
Hunting Ancestor
Not Any More
HeFoundMe.com

[Martin]

Wow.... made my own tombstone... that was a bit morbid.

[Aiko]

OK, here are some of mine:

Here lies Dusty
now she's really
..... dusty

Searching Roots
I found them
..... at last

For the first time
I really hit
a Brick Wall

Cheers,
Aiko

[Dick Hillenbrand]

I'm With Stupid
<---

[Brenda]

Genie At Rest
Tired From Diggin' The Dead
----
Genie At Rest
Since I am always here
I thought I would stay awhile
-----

[Brenda]

Diggin' Bones
Has Killed These Bones

[Mary]

Up or Down
I Am Sure To Find
Some Ancestors

[Golden]

Eternity!
I've been buried in documents
And now have entered it.

and....

Genealogists Never Die...
They just become Ancestors.

[Bonnie]

I Staked My Claim and
I'm Not Movin'

[Bonnie]

Frozen in Time

[Bonnie]

I Take Retirement
Seriously

[Bonnie]

What Did I Leave
I Left It ALL

[Bonnie]

I Know Who I Am
Left Clues Galore
Winner Gets the Spoils

[Ronda Snyder]

BMD
Finally the 3rd
Certificate

[Chas Cornell]

I Told You I Was Sick

[Craig TenBroeck]

Although this is too long to fit the tombstone, it really applies to any crossword puzzle enthusiast:

Craig TenBroeck, a cruciverbalist of renown,
Lies buried here appropriately
At three across and six down.

[Tony Rockefeller]

A simple epitaph: I knew this would happen to me.

[Ruth]

[Epitaph of Sheil, an Irish orator:]
Here lies I.
There's an end to my woes,
And my spirit at length at ease is,
With the tip of my nose,
And the end of my toes,
Turned up against the roots of the daisies.

*****

This is what I expected
But not so soon

*****

God takes the good
too good on earth to stay,
God leaves the bad
too bad to take away.

*****

[On the grave of a gardener in Eastport, Maine:]
Transplanted

*****

[Epitaph for a dentist:]
View this gravestone with gravity
He is filling his last cavity

*****

Epitaph of Benjamin Franklin:
Like the Covering of an old Book
Its contents torn out
And stript of its Lettering
and Gilding Lies here,
Food for Worms;
But the Work shall not be lost,
It will (as he believed)
appear once more, In a new
and more beautiful Edition,
Corrected and amended
By the Author.

[Ray Allain]

They didn't believe me when I told them my feet were killing me!

[Ray Allain]

They didn't believe me when I told them my feet were killing me!

[Andy E. Wold]

Mrs. Smith
wife of Mr. Smith
married poss. USA or UK

Ole Olsen
son of Ole Olsen
born in Scandinavia

James Smith
single genealogist
(plot available)

[Andy E. Wold]

Everyone,
You won't believe
who I just talked to!

GGG-father Jones
says he never knew
that woman!

[Dick Eastman]

There were many good submissions for the "epitaph of the day," all listed above. I guess one thing I overlooked was that the words must fit into the small space available. Several of the submissions were funny but too long.

I must admit that I smiled when I read Mary's submission:

Up or Down
I Am Sure To Find
Some Ancestors

That's the "epitaph of the day."

- Dick Eastman

[Ward Greene]

Oooops !

[Velma Souers]

Neat site. Too bad it contained foul languge. I won't forward it.

[Greg Kleist]

Michael Vick's
NFL Career
Died: 2007

[Lorelee]

"Every thing happens for a reason." {my kids have heard this from me for years so I am sure this is what will be on my tombstone}

[D. Miller]

I used to only look for dead people
Now I'm talking to them

[D. Miller]

(Adjusted to fit)
I used to look for
dead people
Now I talk to them

[Brenda]

Doin' My
Grave Work
From Below
The Line
---------------------------------------
Doin' My Grave
Work But:
My Writing Tablet
Is Upside Down
Or I am?

[Denise Oliansky]

I've rooted through
the family tree
Now the tree
is rooting through me!

[dorothy Heinle]

Tombstone Epitaph:

Her Genes made sure she never dyed her hair,

DNA made sure she died, and now she's gone SOMEWHERE.

[Lisa]

Ok you found me
Take a photo, GPS and check-in with the caretaker
Oh, don’t forget to source all you information right away.

Ps. Uncle Charley had three wives and never divorced. Look in Potter County.

[Patsy Lewis]

I Ceased To Be
Now My Descendants
Look For Me

[MHunter]

As an amateur genealogist since I was in grade school, I feel that our family motto is the same as most other genealogists' families: Never Leave a Paper Trail!

Great Site!

[MHunter]

As an amateur genealogist since I was in grade school, I feel that our family motto is the same as most other genealogists' families: Never Leave a Paper Trail!

Great Site!

[MHunter]

My "tombstone" reflects my frustration with the universal family motto of all genealogists: Never Leave a Paper Trail!

http://www.autowitch.org/?q=node%2F916&line1=Victim+of+Her&line2=Family+Motto&line3=Never+Leave+a+Paper+Trail

[Jim Agnew]

Here's one I saw in Virginia City, NV, for a lady of the evening:

Here Lies Lulu
In Her
Usual Position

[Joan Case]

A twist on your first one

Here lies
A Genealogist
bjcase@heaven.com

[Carly Henderson]

Now I know
Great Grandmother's
Maiden name!

Nah-na-na-na-nah

[Lura]

Genealogists don't die,
They just lose their
Census

[Lura]

My Birth
Certificate
EXPIRED

[Paul]

PLOT FOR RENT
SEE OWNER
BELOW

[Linda]

I hit a brick wall...that's why I am here...

[Dick Eastman]

Today's "epitaph of the day" is "Plot for Rent - See Owner Below." Cute!

Several other excellent suggestions were offered but were too long to fit in the limited space available.

- Dick Eastman

[Sue]

I Met GGGrandpa
He
Isn't From Mars

[Carl Mortensen]

I Told You I Was Sick !

[Pat]

Here Rests
A Genealogist
Who did not ask!

[Barbara]

I'm Lost
Must Have Been
Misfiled

[Dick Eastman]

Today's "Epitaph of the Day" is:

See? I Told You I Was Sick!

Submitted by Carl Mortensen.

[Anne]

Hilton Family
Reunion
Y'all Can Come, Too

[Karen Miller]

Tomb with a view

[Lori]

I see dead people

[Lori]

Watch out for that hooooooooooooooooooooole

[Marilynn B]

Decipher my
notes if you can
(Look in shoebox under bed)

[h630]

I
Finally Found
My ROOTS.com

[Andy E. Wold]

I hope that this doesn't offend anyone, but a ggmother was actually described this way:

Grandma Jones
Excellent cook,
4 ft tall, and just as wide!

[Lorelee]

Did you know that "I told you I was sick" is on a headstone of a lady by the name of B P Roberts in a cemetery in Key West Florida? Story goes she was a waitress who was always complaining about not feeling well so after awhile no one believed her.

[Graeme Simpson]

The most famous use of the epitaph "I told you I was sick" is on Spike Milligan's grave (albeit in Irish!!). Don't know how famous Mike was in the USA but as one of the Goons in "The Goon Show" on radio, he was very well known in the UK and Australia.

[Graeme Simpson]

How about:

Finally hit a DEAD end!!

or:

Oh No!! another DEAD end!!

[G. Lloyd]

What I was, you are.
What I am, you will be!

[Dawn Lindsay]

Heaven:
No Pain
No Gain

[Karen Greer HOwell]

Won't fit, but here's the motto I live by, and I hope to have put on my stone someday:
"Life shouldn't be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. Rather, the goal is to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, cheesecake in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO, what a ride!"

[Wendel Voigt]

Please stop
taking me for
granite

[Marilyn]

His:
They knew I was here

Hers:
And I did too

[Camille]

See! It's
Not all in
my head.

[Louise]

I am a RAOGK volunteer.. I do go and take photos of gravestone for request. I walk the cemeteries till I find the stones I need.
I copy cemeteries and sometimes find an obituary where the person is buried in cemetery , but no stone. I will post this picture online to let others know that no stone is available in findagrave.com.
I made up a tombstone to say.

This Person Has
No Gravestone
Is buried here

[Dick Eastman]

Today's "epitaph of the day" is:

Heaven:
No Pain, No Gain

Submitted by: Dawn Lindsay

[Edmund Deane]

Genealogy
My Theory
of Relativity

[Betty]

Gravestone suggestions:

SOMETIMES YOU SEE GOD
.. FROM HERE !

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER !

or

NOW I CAN TALK TO ALL THOSE PEOPLE

WHO CREATED ALL THOSE FAMILY SECRETS !

or

I WAS NOT A JERK

I WAS DOING GOD'S WORK

THERE WAS NO ONE I COULD TELL

I STILL CAN'T TELL THEM

OH, WELL

AT LEAST GOD KNEW

MY, WHAT A VIEW

or

I DIDN'T BELIEVE IN ANGELS

NOW I AM ONE

or

LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED ??

DON'T YOU DARE !

[shobart]

Hello? Hello?
Can anyone hear me?

[Phyll Beach]

Thanks, this was fun! I tried a lot of combinations, but for fit and aesthetics on the tombstone, I liked the one below the best. It is a new spin on a sign I had in my office as a yacht broker, which read, "He who dies with the most toys, wins!

THE ONE WHO DIES
WITH THE BEST INDEX,
WINS.

[Nancy Augustowski]

I'v talked about several to my family but these 3 are good so far.

My Husband Nancy
Still in a Rut Just a Long
Cat nap
My wife
Quiet at Last

[Nancy Augustowski]

Sorry:

Nancy
Just a Long
Cat Nap

My Wife
Quiet at Last

My Husband Still in a Rut

[frank piecuch]

I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!

[Sweet Gran]

In Retrospect: Too much cottage cheese - not enough ice cream!!!

[Judi Galpin]

Last Words:
If I'm Lying
May God Strike Me Dead

[JINNY COLLINS]

IF THERE'S
ANYTHING LEFT
I MISCALCULATED

That won't fit, so it has to read:
IF THERE'S
ANYTHING LEFT
I GOOFED!

[Roberta Steele]

She Got Her Way & Took Her Last Vacation All Over The Chesapeake Bay!

I want to be creamated and shot off in the Fireworks over the Chesapeake Bay. How wonderful a last vacation is this??

[Chris C]

Been Here Before To Visit

Here Is Home Now

Thanks For The Visit

[Bebe Brock]

A tomb tome for Lucy Brock in Lyman, Maine.
"She did what she could"

[Sandi G]

I hope the last check I wrote bounced!

[Valle Flo]

Move Over Sod,
Here's My Bod,
Dead as a Log!!

[Valle Flo]

I'm Late I'm Late
4 a Very Important Date,
I Missed My Own Funeral!

[Dick Eastman]

The "epitaph of the day" is:

Last Words: If I'm Lying May God Strike Me Dead

Submitted by Judi Galpin

[Pat]

Could be the perfect way to replicate the photograph I can't find. I've got the inscription.

[Dennis Lohr]

This tombstone copyright © 2007.
All rights reserved.

[Lori]

Family history,
No more a mystery.
At last.

[Jim Agnew]

See also:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=RLT40ZUIG5RTVQFIQMFSFF4AVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/07/24/nepitaph124.xml&posted=true&_requestid=1448770

for a British version of this article

[Aiko]

Owen Moore
Gone Away
owin' more than he can pay

[Aiko]

I'm an Atheist
All dressed up
and no place to go

The 22nd of June
-Jonathan Fiddle-
went out of tune

I was somebody
Who is no business
Of yours

Here I lie
Pardon Me
for not rising

Ann Mann
lived an old maid
but died an old Mann