The Story Behind
Lasting Legacy Online was co-founded by wife and husband, Elaine and Howard Schwartz. In 2003, the couple came up with the idea of Lasting Legacy Online. They aimed to create an internet site where an individual could make their life story accessible to family and friends for free and for generations to come.
Elaine, a former nursing home administrator and manager of many state aging programs, developed an appreciation for the value of life experiences handed down to family and friends. Elaine’s mother died at the age of 45; her father, at the age of 53.
Dr. Howard Schwartz, former Judicial Administrator for Kansas Supreme Court, lost his father when he was only 16.
Elaine and Howard came to realize they both knew very little about their parents’ lives.
In 2013, Kansas Chief Justice Kay McFarland, Elaine’s friend and Howard’s boss, became involved with helping to make this dream come true. For a-year-and-a-half Elaine made weekly visits to Kay’s house to write the answers to Kay’s story.
When Kay died in 2015 at the age of 80, Elaine was energized to make this concept work. Not only did she want people to read her friend Kay’s life story, enhanced with videos and pictures of the late Kansas Chief Justice, but she also wanted to give the opportunity to others. Every person’s story counts and friends and families lives will be enriched by having those stories told by the very people who lived them. Chief Justice McFarland appreciated this and joined the Schwartz’s effort to accomplish this goal.
Let Lasting Legacy Online Preserve Your Story
Begin with our 20-question starter guide to bring your story to life!
