How to Find Free Obituaries Online

Newspaper obituaries are a quick snapshot of a person's life, published shortly after their death. Whether you are looking for an obituary of a relative, friend, ancestor, or simply someone you're curious to know more about, online newspaper archives and obituary databases are tremendous resources for family history and people research. What's more, you can search obituary notices from last week, last year, or from anytime in the past few centuries. Best of all, there are many free obituaries online... archives that can be accessed easily, and at no charge. Here's how to do it.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. **Find the Date of Death at SSDI**
   
   The Social Security Death Index, or simply, SSDI, is an incredible and free online resource, with more than 80 million records of virtually all deaths that have occurred in the US in the past few decades (from about the mid-1960's onward).
   
   SSDI does not include obituaries, but it does help you find out an exact date of death, and provides some information on where the death occurred. What's more, it can give helpful details on a person's full name, which is a great help in subsequent research.
   
   Do a Google search on SSDI to get right to the SSDI search form, and begin your search.

2. **Use Genealogy Databases for Older Records**
   
   If you're looking for an obituary that predates SSDI records, then use one of the major online genealogical databases to find someone's date and place of death.
   
   Familysearch.org is a good starting place, as this is an entirely free resource, with hundreds of millions of records.
   
   You can also try Ancestry.com (see link in Resources, below). This is a subscription service, but you can do a preliminary search at no cost to get some initial information, and can also sign on to the service on a trial basis to get full records (which can include obituaries).

3. **Search Free Newspaper Archives**
   
   Once you have a date of death, along with an accurate full name, you can look for actual obituaries in online newspaper archives.
   
   Check freenewspaperarchives.us as your best starting point. You can use the national resources to look for obituaries from old newspapers across the US. But if you know the state, you can also look for state-specific archives as well.
   
   Also do a search at Google News at news.google.com. Used the advanced search feature to make sure you zero in on the appropriate dates for the obituary you're looking for.
   
   
   Also, try a search at obitsarchive.com. This is also a subscription service, but like at ancestry.com, the initial search is free, and the results can tell you if a full obituary is available in their database.
   
   
   Lastly, if all else fails, search at NewspaperArchive.com (see Resources, for the link). This is a subscription database, but a preliminary, free search can help identify if the obit your looking for is available in their system.

4. Be sure to see Resources, directly below, for more links to useful sites for free obituaries and family history. Also look at the More Articles Like This, and Related Articles features, elsewhere on this page.

Resources

• Ancestry.com
• NewspaperArchives.com
• Free Newspaper Archives
• Need more help? Ask a professional family history research service.
• Intelius for People-Search Information

[sallyemaycreate]

on 8/7/2009 Very interesting information, Thanks for sharing. 5*

[klnygaard]

on 5/25/2009 Obits usually freak me out, but this is very helpful information. I did not keep my brothers obit and now I can get a copy- 5 stars