Obituaries in Erie, PA | Erie Times-News (2024)

FAQs

How do I find a local obituary? ›

Many funeral homes publish obituaries on their websites. These can usually be located with a Google search on the person's name. Local genealogical and historical societies, public libraries, and some newspaper publishers maintain clipping files of obituaries.

Find an Obituary. The Cremation Society of Pennsylvania ® online obituary search tool gives you access to obituaries from thousands of locations across North America. You can search by first or last name, state and publication date.

The Web site hosts obituaries and memorials for more than 70 percent of all U.S. deaths. Legacy.com hosts obituaries for more than three-quarters of the 100 largest newspapers in the U.S., by circulation.

Obituaries are not required by law , so the deceased's family might have chosen to forego publishing one. Publishing an obituary can be expensive , and the funds may be unavailable. The deceased has few family members or friends , so there might have, unfortunately, been no need for an obituary.

There are several ways to do this: A General Search: To start a general inquiry, collect any identifying information about the person you believe to have passed. Type into a search engine the person's name followed by the word “death” or “obituary”.

As funeral homes across America post obituaries to their respective funeral home website, The Obituary App organizes them all into particular cities. Now, a user can look at all the obituaries posted by multiple funeral homes in one place.

​County Courthouses in ​​Pennsylvania

Courthouses are important places to look for birth, marriage and death records. These are usually found in the Register of Wills office in each county. Records in the Recorder of Deeds offices can also be useful.

In PA, there is no legal mandate to publish an obituary in a newspaper when someone dies.

Copyright and Obituaries. To be clear, obituaries are protected by copyright. They are creative works of expression that are fixed into a tangible medium of expression. Both the text and the images that make up an obituary are protected by copyright (even if the facts and information are not).

What is the shortest obituary ever? ›

The late Douglas Legler, from Fargo, North Dakota, may have the funniest and most concise obituary ever. The whole obituary reads "Doug Died." And that's exactly the way he wanted it.

An obituary is written to tell the story of your loved one. These will often be in the funeral program. There will even be a part of the funeral where the obituary will be silently read by everyone in attendance at the funeral.

Posting an obituary is not a legal requirement and is a sentimental action. Families don't have to publish one if they don't want it or do not have the funds to do so. While you do not have to share a death note or obituary, you must file a death certificate with your state's office.

Why does it cost so much to post an obituary? Publishing an obituary in the newspaper is expensive because of the limited space papers have. Newspapers value every inch of each page, so they must charge to use that limited space for an obituary.

Obituaries and death notices are not required—but notices to creditors may be. You are under no legal obligation to take out a death notice or obituary.

The California Department of Public Health – Vital Records (CDPH-VR) maintains a permanent, public record of every death that has occurred in California since July 1905.

Obituaries in Massachusetts and other parts of New England can generally be found in the local town or county papers. Many obituaries for Boston and the surrounding area can be found in: Boston Athenaeum. Index of Obituaries in Boston Newspapers, 1704-1800.

However, many of the county libraries in South Carolina have special indexes for obituaries from local newspapers and may have the newspapers on microfilm. See the LibGuide at statelibrary.sc.libguides.com/sc-obituary-resources for information on how libraries help users with information in this field.

New York Public Library subscribes to many databases that can help researchers locate obituaries and death notices. The most useful are our newspaper databases. Oftentimes obituaries can be located by entering a person's name and week of death into the newspapers databases.