Or maybe:

With gratitude we pay our respects to this ....

We bow in gratitude before ...

e.g.

Kein Vorschlag, aber vielleicht eine kleine Hilfestellung: http://www.obituarieshelp.org/articles/categories.htmlhttp://www.obituarieshelp.org/articles/obituaries_writing_tips.html usw. Zumindst für AE dürften sich dort auch eine Reihe wiederkehrender Formulierungen finden lassen.

Nur um das Deutsche zu kommentieren: Es ist auch recht ungewöhnlich, davon zu sprechen, dass man sich vor jemandem verneigt, wenn es nicht tatsächlich geschieht (und hier handelt es sich ja offenbar um einen Nachruf). "Wir verneigen uns vor der Leistung dieser Unternehmerin" o.Ä. wäre da üblicher.

(gratefully) acknowledge?

Thank you one and all.
I'm afraid it's too late to do anything about the German as this is a death announcement that has already appeared in the newspaper and is being translated for the subsidiaries outside Germany.

So I will go with "We bow in gratitude..."

It also struck me as strange, but it is not my place to alter it in this case.

Maybe use something with "deep"? I'd try to avoid "bow" if at all possible.

I would still be happier with some sort of salutation/salute like we honour... etc

I dont think it's Julie's job to make you happy, though, noli :-)

#9 nice - that you take time for all this tangential stuff...

Like I couldn't take just 2 seconds out of my day for you?

OT:

At any rate, it's Julie's funeral ... Dictionary: your funeral