Service Lets Mourners Pay Respects Online

Aug. 1 -- In this week's Cybershake, we reveal a new way to pay your respects — online, through a Web-based funeral service. Plus, we'll take a look at AOL's latest upgrade, which includes lots of features to jazz up your instant online messaging.

Funerals on the Web

Want to pay your respects but the funeral is just too far away? An emerging Web site promises to help those who just can't make the trip.

"People who can't make it to the service for whatever reason can just log online and check out their loved one's service," explains Justin Curtis, founder and president of Chapelview Online, of Rapid City, S.D.

The Web site, due to launch by the end of the summer, offers viewers a live video view of the service from inside the chapel to the grave site. Views of the service after the funeral also are offered. There's even a guestbook that virtual guests can sign and share memories.

"Each person has a personalized page with their obituary and a picture and a guest book," says Curtis. "And that guestbook is viewable so everybody can read what everyone else wrote."

For those who might want to keep services private, Chapelview.com offers a password option where relatives designate access by sharing their personal password only with invited guests.

Despite the precaution, Curtis says not everyone seems ready for the concept.

"A lot of funeral homes are not quite certain about the idea," he says. "They think that for a service everyone needs to be there grieving together. However, sometimes everyone just can't be there for whatever reason."

Curtis has six funeral homes signed up so far with the site, and he hopes to recruit more. Part of the challenge is making sure each funeral home is equipped with the right video and computer equipment.

Once the technology is running smoothly, Curtis hopes to expand with another service for more happy occasions — weddings.

— Larry Jacobs, ABCNEWS

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