The Story:

Through death comes life. In this case an idea, a product - and a new way of communicating the important information surrounding the death of a loved one.

On Oct 21st, 2005, Sally Webb Beasley passed away. It was her family that discovered what is now known as the Infopage. Sally was well loved by many, many people. As the family began trying to field the barrage of incoming calls requesting information about Sally's services, Christy Douglas, a web designer and the fiancée of Sally's son John Otto, came up with the idea of using the internet to keep friends and family up-to-date. Decisions weren't yet concrete, grief was overwhelming, and keeping track of who was informed was difficult, so the site went up. Anyone who called was referred to the website and told to keep checking it for updates as information became available. Over the course of those first difficult days, the online tool eased the problem of spreading information more than anyone could have imagined. 

It was Rebekah, the daughter of Sally that saw the Informational Webpage as a viable business idea and a valuable tool for those who find themselves facing the difficult task of spreading the news about the loss of a loved one. Thus the Infopage was born. It would be over a year later, after creating Infopages for the family's Grandmother and another for a dear friend, that the usefulness of the system became too apparent to ignore. John began working on how to automate the process, so that no computer programming experience was necessary to create the pages. Using his past experience in writing computer code and enlisting the best techies he could find, development began. After seven months of solid effort, the system was completed, patent applied for and advertising began. There is no similar product – it is accessible, affordable and necessary.  This is a family business to be sure, one born from tragedy and whose epicenter is a concept that would make their Mother proud.

-- Dave Copeland author Digital Shake

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