Following All the Leads an Obituary Can Yield

By definition, an obituary is a notice of a person’s death which usually includes a short biography. It lets those who wish to attend a service, burial or memorial, know the time and place these things will be held and tells the community a little about the life of the deceased.

Obituaries serve a vital function. Without these notices, in many cases, family and friends might not learn of the death in time to attend the services. But obituaries serve other purposes too, some long after the burial has been held and tall grass has covered an ancestor’s grave.

Obituaries are small notices and are usually available for a minimal advertising price in a local newspaper. Sometimes, they appear in both the community paper, which can be either weekly or bi-weekly, and the daily publication of the area in which the deceased last lived. Some also appear in newspapers where the person grew up, or lived for a long time as well. A lot of that depends upon a family’s request to a funeral director at the time arrangements are made.

As small as these notices are, sometimes taking up barely an inch or two of space, they are chocked full of valuable information for genealogists. Names of parents, siblings, children, wives and often many other relatives are given as survivors. Causes of death are often mentioned as well, which can show traits that may run in families.

Places of burial can often rev up a search when put into an online search engine. Many historic newspapers are also now on line.

During times of loss or grief, people can forget many things they normally would want to say about the loved one who has died, so many funeral homes and newspaper offices have standardized forms that can be used to compose an obituary, containing lines to prompt the important facts, like the date and place of birth, survivors, colleges and universities, careers, volunteer jobs, military service and other notable facts.

These questionnaires can help solve the problem of confusion during stressful times. Important information is not as easily forgotten when using these prompts and this makes future genealogists’ work easier.

Let’s take the fictional Josiah Smythe for example, and examine all the nuggets we can pull from his obituary that could lead to solid information from other sources.

“Josiah Smythe, 74, of Anytown, Ga., died May 15, 2007, at GoodCare Regional Medical Center in Atlanta. Smythe was born in Archville, Penn., and was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force in World War II. He was a used car salesman and owned his own shop in Atlanta for many years. He also installed telephone towers prior to moving to Anytown 20 years ago from Montgomery, Ala., where he had lived for about 15 years. Smythe was preceded in death by his oldest son, Brian John Anders. He is survived by his wife, Clarice; a son, Wade Smythe, and a daughter, Cynthia “Cyndi” Anastasia, all of Anytown; a sister, Mary Smythe Englehardt of Asbury Park, N.J.; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. The family asks that instead of flowers donations be made to the American Cancer Society or Hospice of Anytown. Arrangements are being made by Johnson Memorial Chapel of Anytown. Funeral services will be at Grace Methodist Church in Baird, Ga., Monday, May 25 at 2 p.m., with burial following at Gates of Glory Cemetery, 555 Baird Road. For more information, call Johnson Memorial Chapel at (555) 555-5555, Ext. 555.

There are more than fifty clues in this fictional obituary. Can you find them?

Searching for obituaries online? Beware of scammers. Read my report first.