Need help looking up obituariy for my grandfather who died in mid 70s.?

TedPack

New member
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
26
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Ancestry's Obit collection is mostly 1990's and 2000's. You'l probably have to look it up in old newspapers on microfilm in the county library. There may not be an obit; sometimes when someone commits suicide there isn't. There may be a news article; there may not.
 
I'm trying to find out about him, he commited suicide before I was born. Tried to Google but found nothing.
 
I will have to assume that you mean in the US, since you did not mention a country.
Your first stop is the social security death index, which is at www.rootsweb.com. What this will give you is the dates of his birth/ death, and last residence. In most cases, you will know where he lived. SOMETIMES a person lives in a town which is near a state line, and MIGHT die in a hospital in the adjoining state (if that is the location of nearest large hospital).
Having the date of his death exactly, will allow you to send for his death certificate. Most states restrict these to relatives, but if this is the case, you can prove your relationship to your parent with your birth cert, and their relationship with their birth cert. Without knowing the exact state, I can't be more exact. Death certs have explicit info, but of course, it will cost.
You might also consider determining the funeral home. They are responsible for both the content of the obit and info for the death cert. AS A FAMILY MEMBER, you might be able to contact them, and ask for the records for research reasons. In the past.. I have had morticians send me complete files on long dead cousins, with no restrictions. With id theft, that may not be as easy today.
Did he die in the same town that you live? If not.. use google, not for him, but to locate the newspaper serving the town. If they don't have a website, pick up the phone, and ask WHERE their archives for that time frame are located. If they don't have it, it will normally be the local library.
Another option.. find older family members, and ask if they have photos or such. This way will be possible to get personal stories or view points that no newspaper will ever have. I hope there are some happy memories, but reality wise, SOMETIMES a person's life is hard, with lots of sorrow, etc. Hope for the best.
Last.. I used to work for a newspaper, and typed up the obits from the funeral home info. Standard policy is to filter.. NOT indicate that it was suicide. This is to spare the family, from hurtful questions. If it happened in a large city..any notice might be as little as 2 lines, with no background info.
 
Back
Top