For example, a son may have obituaries run in multiple cities where the person lived over the years. If you do not find any results when you look in one city, check neighboring cities. Don’t forget that some small towns may have a tiny paper that only comes out once a week.

Obituaries are a great source of information and serve as a firsthand account of the individual’s life and times. The obituary should list when and where the person was born and any living relatives they have, including their spouse and children. Many will also list their parents if they are alive and their siblings. You may find interesting facts about the person such as any hobbies they had and their favorite sports teams. Keep in mind that families are the ones who write the obituaries and they may not list accurate information. It’s common for them to get marriage or birth dates and locations wrong.