Tribute Technology Launches the Inaugural Tech-Enabled Funeral Home Awards, Recognizing Leaders Transforming Funeral Service Through Technology
November 7, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 7, 2024
Contact For Further Information:
Tribute Technology
315 Raemisch Rd., Ste G
Waunakee, WI, 53597
press@tributetech.com
Tribute Technology Launches the Inaugural Tech-Enabled Funeral Home Awards, Recognizing Leaders Transforming Funeral Service Through Technology
Celebrating Innovation, Transparency, and Community Impact in Funeral Home Services
WAUNAKEE, WI — In an effort to honor groundbreaking innovation and celebrate leadership in the funeral service profession, Tribute Technology proudly announces the inaugural Tech-Enabled Funeral Home Awards.
These awards recognize forward-thinking funeral homes that are leveraging technology to enhance service delivery, improve family experiences, and strengthen community connections.
“The 2024 award recipients are setting new standards by integrating digital solutions that empower staff, foster transparency, and build community trust,” said Courtney Gould Miller, Tribute Technology President of Commercial Markets. “Through the use of innovative tools, these industry leaders are transforming the way funeral homes operate, offering families a more personalized, accessible, and compassionate experience during their time of need.”
Honorees of the 2024 Tech-Enabled Funeral Home Awards include:
- Leader in Community Outreach & Email Marketing: Starlyn Aurit, Customer Experience & Marketing Director at Harrell Funeral Homes
- Leader in Funeral Home Website Optimization: Andrew Jenkins, President & Funeral Director at Jenkins Funeral Chapel, Inc.
- Leader in Empowering Families with Technology: Jonathan Leavitt, Owner & Funeral Director at Leavitt Funeral Services and Crematory
- Leader in Digital-First Training for Funeral Service: Jim Busch, Owner & President at Busch Funeral Home & Crematory Services
- Leaders in Funeral Home Transparency: Ashlee Etzweiler & Shannon Etzweiler-Kapsak, Funeral Directors at Etzweiler Family Funeral Service
- Leader in Integrated Technology Systems: David Lee Hernandez Jr., Founder & CEO at Jersey Memorial Group
- Leaders In Tech Enhanced Family Support: Jimmy Altmeyer Jr., President of Altmeyer Funeral Homes & Crematory and Founder of Treasured Memories, and John Butler, Digital Strategy for Treasured Memories
- Leader in Redefining Funeral Home & Cemetery Marketing: Bob Gordon, President & CEO of Cypress Lawn Funeral Home & Memorial Park
Members of the media with questions about Tribute Technology or any of the company’s products and services are asked to contact press@tributetech.com.
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About Tribute Technology:
Tribute Technology’s mission is to bring the best technology to all funeral homes, to help communities around the world celebrate life, and to pay tribute to loved ones. Over 9,000 end-of-life providers already use Tribute Technology’s software and product offerings, including websites, marketing services, management software, online planning, personalized memorial keepsakes, payment processing, and other solutions. Tribute Technology is focused on innovating to help funeral directors save time on tasks, so they can focus more on connecting with the families who have lost a loved one. The company’s goal is to give funeral directors everything they need to run their business in one place, making their lives easier.
Strategies You Can Use the Minute You’re Back Home: Inside the Tribute Technology Summit If you’re ready to do more than just talk about the future of funeral service, this is where you need to be. The Tribute Technology Summit, November 10–12, 2025, at The St. Regis Longboat Key Resort, co-hosted with MKJ Marketing, brings together the most forward-thinking leaders in the profession for three days of expert guidance, open conversation, and sessions built around real-world takeaways. You’ll head home with fresh ways to strengthen culture, simplify operations, and grow confidently into what’s next. What You’ll Gain New ways to inspire staff and strengthen culture with insights from Jamie Naughton Henriod , former Chief of Staff at Zappos. Tools and systems that save time and improve care , helping you focus on families instead of processes. Smarter strategies for growth, acquisition, and leadership that position your firm for long-term success. Marketing and pricing approaches based on real data , showing what’s working for firms across the country. A clear look ahead at how technology is becoming the new standard of care in funeral service. Join us at the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort this November and come ready to take home strategies you can put to work the minute you’re back in your business. Info and Registration Here
Faster help, familiar faces, and answers that fit the way you work.
Tribute Technology is partnering with Homesteaders Life Company, one of the most trusted names in funeral service, to make preneed policy management easier for funeral homes.
Waunakee, Wisconsin – October 22, 2025 Tribute Technology is partnering with Homesteaders Life Company, one of the most trusted names in funeral service, to make it easier for funeral homes to manage preneed policies. The planned integration, coming in 2026, will connect Homesteaders’ policy data directly with Tribute Management Software, allowing funeral directors to see and link matching preneed policies right from a case. Policy information will update automatically each night, so directors always have the most current details without sorting through paperwork or entering data twice. “At Homesteaders, we’re committed to offering financial support, expertise, and partnerships that bring value to funeral professionals and the families we serve together,” said Steve Shaffer, Homesteaders President, CEO and Board Chair. “This planned integration with Tribute Technology helps simplifies the preneed management process, giving funeral providers easier access to the information they need so they can focus more fully on designing meaningful experiences for the families they serve.” For funeral homes, this will mean fewer errors, faster workflows, and peace of mind knowing every available fund is captured and applied correctly. Families will benefit too, with less back-and-forth over documents and a smoother, more professional experience. “Funeral directors carry an enormous responsibility, and every minute spent searching for paperwork is a minute taken away from serving families,” said Courtney Gould Miller, President of Commercial Markets at Tribute Technology. “This upcoming integration with Homesteaders takes something complex and makes it simple. It’s about giving time back to the professionals who give so much of themselves every day.” This is the first of several planned integrations designed to connect Tribute Management Software with multiple preneed partners. Together, these systems will help funeral homes work more efficiently and better support the families they serve. About Homesteaders Life Company For nearly 120 years, Homesteaders Life Company has provided products and services to help people design a better farewell. Rooted in financial stability and a deep commitment to the funeral profession, Homesteaders partners with funeral providers of all sizes to help them grow their businesses through innovative preneed solutions. About Tribute Technology Tribute Technology builds technology that helps funeral professionals focus on what matters most—supporting families. Serving more than 9,000 providers worldwide, Tribute’s connected tools for management, websites, marketing, online planning, and payments simplify daily work and strengthen the relationships that matter most. Learn more at www.tributetech.com . Media Contact: Heather McWilliams Mierzejewski VP of Marketing heather.mierzejewski@tributetech.com 303-717-3774
A simple way to expand your reach and bring more families to your website
WAUNAKEE, Wis. — October 22, 2025 ObituaryShare.com has partnered with Tribute Technology to make it easier for funeral homes to share obituaries online and connect with more people in their communities. Through this new partnership, funeral homes using Tribute Technology websites can now link directly to ObituaryShare. The integration lets staff automatically post obituaries to Facebook and other social channels with no extra steps or technical work required. Each post leads readers back to the funeral home’s website, helping more families find services, send flowers, and show support. “As obituaries continue to move online rather than being printed, it’s important that they still reach the people who care,” said Bob Arrington, President of ObituaryShare. “We built ObituaryShare so families could get the word out in a way that connects. Working with Tribute Technology makes that even easier for funeral homes.” The connection between the two platforms is simple to set up and available now for Tribute Technology customers. Those who activate the feature will also receive special partnership pricing on ObituaryShare services. “Families often turn to Facebook to remember a loved one and share memories and support,” said Courtney Gould Miller, President of Commercial Markets at Tribute Technology. “Our partnership with ObituaryShare makes that process effortless for funeral homes by helping bring those stories to where people are already connecting.” Special Offer for Tribute Technology Customers Tribute Technology partners receive exclusive pricing on ObituaryShare services. To learn more or get started, visit ObituaryShare.com or contact your Tribute Technology account representative. About ObituaryShare ObituaryShare.com helps funeral homes publish and share obituaries on social media, reaching friends, family, and community members in a more personal way. Founded by Bob Arrington, President of Arrington Funeral Directors, and Roy Heatherly, a longtime newspaper executive, ObituaryShare offers a simple, affordable way to share stories and strengthen community connection. About Tribute Technology Tribute Technology is a leading provider of software and services for funeral homes, cemeteries, and crematories, helping professionals serve families through best-in-class websites, management tools, and digital memorialization solutions. The company is headquartered in Waunakee, Wisconsin. Media Contact Heather McWilliams Mierzejewski VP of Marketing, Tribute Technology press@tributetech.com | heather.mierzejewski@tributetech.com | 303-717-3774
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Tribute Technology Releases Landmark Obituary Study: Traffic, Engagement, and Industry Threats New research shows organic obituary traffic surging, aggregators taking sessions and revenue, and Tribute-powered pages winning top Google rankings WAUNAKEE, Wis., Oct. 6, 2025 — Tribute Technology announced the publication of Benchmarking the Modern Obituary: Traffic, Engagement, and Industry Threats , an analysis of more than one billion obituary sessions. The report shows how online obituaries fuel funeral home growth, where traffic originates, and how third-party aggregators divert audiences and purchases away from local firms. “Obituaries are the entry point to the modern funeral home,” said Craig Greenseid, CEO of Tribute Technology. “This study gives owners the data to protect that entry point, so families, condolences, brand awareness, and commerce stay with the firm that served them.” Obituaries are the top driver of funeral home website traffic, attracting more than 3.5 billion visits annually, with obituary pages drawing five times more visits than all other pages. Sixty percent of visitors are women over age 50, most within 25 miles of the funeral home, aligning with the primary pre-need decision-maker demographic. When it comes to obituaries, the study shows speed and substance matter. Obituaries posted within two days of death drive 30 percent more visits and engagements, while those with 500 or more words generate twice as many. The study confirms that 75 percent of obituary visits come from organic search or social sharing and underscores SEO-first design, especially on obituaries. This helps ensure families find their funeral home directly rather than an aggregator sites, which divert traffic and dollars. Funeral homes lose up to 260 sessions per obituary, reducing revenue, guestbook entries, and brand equity. “Funeral homes want confidence that families will find obituaries on their own website, not an aggregator, and that once they land on that obituary, it drives the engagements, such as condolence messages or traffic to the other pages on the funeral home website.” said Andy Bourke, Chief Digital Officer at Tribute Technology. “Our platform is engineered to rank well, and we are always improving it. That keeps the conversation where it belongs and strengthens long-term family relationships.” The study also notes that while AI assistants such as ChatGPT are growing, Google Search dominates with 150 billion monthly visits compared to ChatGPT’s 4 billion. Tribute Technology uses proven SEO structures and schema to ensure obituaries remain visible across both traditional and AI-driven search. Finally, the report details the decline of print obituaries and growth of digital memorialization. Digital postings now account for 65 percent of death notices. Tribute Technology is expanding digital distribution through partnerships like Tribute Spotlights with Chptr, which brings obituaries to local television audiences. Benchmarking the Modern Obituary is available from Tribute Technology. For details and product updates, visit the Tribute Technology News page. About Tribute Technology Tribute Technology is a leading provider of software and services for funeral homes, cemeteries, and crematories, helping professionals serve families through best-in-class websites, management tools, and digital memorialization solutions. The company is headquartered in Waunakee, Wisconsin. Media Contact Heather McWilliams Mierzejewski VP of Marketing, Tribute Technology press@tributetech.com | heather.mierzejewski@tributetech.com | 303-717-3774
