Do you read the obituary page in the paper?

[Jean in Newcastle]

My dh is shocked that I read the obits. Today was the second time I've seen someone I knew. I plan to call the family tomorrow. Am I weird? Ghoulish? I mean they wouldn't be in the paper if people didn't read them, right?

[Remudamom]

I try to read them, and last month I didn't and missed a neighbor's funeral. I felt really bad.

[kalanamak]

I read the obits to keep up with old patients.

[Peela]

I heard its one of those things you do as you get older and your peers start dying of old age :)

No, I don't read it, but then I don't read the paper anymore either. The people I care about who might die - word of mouth will get the message to me. am part of an extensive grapevine.

I don't find it morbid though :)

[cindergretta]

I read them. People pay money to have those placed. They *want* people to read about their loved one, kwim? I feel it is honoring to the family and the deceased to read. I would hope if I placed one for a loved one, people would take the time to read it.

 

On another note, WOW! Peoples' lives are fascinating!! I love reading about when and where they were born, their marriage, their dc, their career, how much they meant to all who knew them... It solidifies my belief in mankind as basically good and decent.

 

(I also found out about the death of a high school friend and was able to attend her funeral, something I would have otherwise missed. :( )

[Mrs Mungo]

(I also found out about the death of a high school friend and was able to attend her funeral, something I would have otherwise missed. :( )

 

Hm. This makes me think maybe I should subscribe to my hometown newspaper.

[Jean in Newcastle]

The people I care about who might die - word of mouth will get the message to me. am part of an extensive grapevine.

 

 

Both people I found out about through the obits were not part of my close circle of friends. One was a high school teacher of mine (I would have found out eventually in the alumni newsletter) and today's is the SIL of a friend of mine. I would probably find out about this one sooner or later too but knowing right away lets me contact the family with my condolences now rather than months later.

[Tap]

When I lived in a small town I did. Now that I am in a largish city, I don't.

[gaillardia]

I used to, but I don't know anyone in our new area.

My SIL moved far from where we used to live also, and she reads them online from our old hometown, she never misses reading them. She calls me and tells me if someone we knew has passed on.

I look at the names, and unless it looks like something unusual, no, I don't read the obituary of someone I don't know.

Maybe your husband thinks you like to read the obituaries, not considering that maybe you are looking for names? On the other hand, unless you read the entire obituary you won't know it was your friend's brother who died who maybe has a different last name.

Some people told me that since my mother went by a nickname, if we hadn't put the photo of her in the paper with her obituary, they wouldn't have known it was her.:confused:

[MorganClassicalPrep]

I do read them. (And it's not a middle-age thing. :tongue_smilie:) In my paper they are right near the births and marriages- which I read because everyone my age is getting married and having children, so I often run across people I know. I read the obits because.... well, they are interesting. I like reading about peoples' lives. It is like a mini-biography.

[gaillardia]

I read them. People pay money to have those placed. They *want* people to read about their loved one, kwim? I feel it is honoring to the family and the deceased to read. I would hope if I placed one for a loved one, people would take the time to read it.

 

On another note, WOW! Peoples' lives are fascinating!! I love reading about when and where they were born, their marriage, their dc, their career, how much they meant to all who knew them... It solidifies my belief in mankind as basically good and decent.

 

(I also found out about the death of a high school friend and was able to attend her funeral, something I would have otherwise missed. :( )

Big city newspapers you do have to pay, usually small town newspapers you don't have to pay.

Obituaries in our local paper are really different than what I was used to reading.

Here they state things like "went home to meet her Maker." They never said things like that in Maryland newspapers! And here they don't say the cause of death.

[happi duck]

When we were staying a few days with mil she would read the obits aloud and 'judge' their lives based on the length of the obit. :glare:

[Jean in Newcastle]

Maybe your husband thinks you like to read the obituaries, not considering that maybe you are looking for names? On the other hand, unless you read the entire obituary you won't know it was your friend's brother who died who maybe has a different last name.

 

 

Yes, I skim the names. If I see one that seems familiar, I will stop and look twice. I often read the ones that are particularly young or have an interesting picture. Her SIL was her brother's wife and so had the same last name.

[LunaLee]

I've alway read the obits-even as a teenager. My dh thought it was kind of weird at first, but now it's no biggie. It's strange, but by reading them I kind of feel like I am honoring their lives.

[cindergretta]

Big city newspapers you do have to pay, usually small town newspapers you don't have to pay.

Obituaries in our local paper are really different than what I was used to reading.

Here they state things like "went home to meet her Maker." They never said things like that in Maryland newspapers! And here they don't say the cause of death.

 

Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks! I live in a city, but I am not sure of its "size." The obits are paid placements.

 

When my grandmother died in Baltimore, her obit was in the Cecil Whig because there was no way she was making it into the Sun... My understanding of that was that it was competitive! :001_huh:

[Maverick_Mom]

I do. A death is an event, so I scan the obits the same way I would scan any other section. Well, maybe not sports. Or the stock market reports. ;) But our paper is a small-town paper and we don't have those features.

 

It does feel a little creepy sometimes, though.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

Big city newspapers you do have to pay, usually small town newspapers you don't have to pay.

Obituaries in our local paper are really different than what I was used to reading.

Here they state things like "went home to meet her Maker." They never said things like that in Maryland newspapers! And here they don't say the cause of death.

 

:lol: No, I can definitely say that I've never read someone went to meet their Maker in the paper I read! (I read the one from back home in southern MD though, I wouldn't be surprised to read it from an Eastern Shore paper.

 

Is it weird that it bothers me a little that the paper I read doesn't give cause of death? I'm just a curious person, and always wonder what happened. The paper says where they died, but not why.

[Maverick_Mom]

:lol: No, I can definitely say that I've never read someone went to meet their Maker in the paper I read! (I read the one from back home in southern MD though, I wouldn't be surprised to read it from an Eastern Shore paper.

 

Is it weird that it bothers me a little that the paper I read doesn't give cause of death? I'm just a curious person, and always wonder what happened. The paper says where they died, but not why.

 

Sometimes there are little hints. Sometimes the obit will say, "... passed away after a valiant fight against [insert name of illness]." And sometimes the obit will designate an organization to make a donation to in lieu of flowers -- that organization may have something to do with the deceased's cause of death (American Cancer Society, etc.).

 

I guess I should be worried that I am so familiar with the wording of obituaries. :D

[Rebecca VA]

Here is a true story: When we moved to Guam years ago, I met a very nice local homeschool mom. I thought she was someone I'd like to be friends with. We set up a time -- a Saturday morning -- to get together and chat.

 

When I got to the church building where we were going to meet, the door was locked and no one was around. I waited a while and then headed home to try to call her. On the way I stopped to put gas in the car and bought a newspaper. That was unusual for me, but I was probably desperate to learn more about the local culture and find some interesting local things to do.

 

Back home, I started flipping through the paper, and to my shock, my new friend's picture stared at me from the obituary page! She had DIED a few days before! That's why she wasn't at the meeting we'd set up. I went to her funeral, ended up babysitting her kids a few times...but I never got over the shock of that! It was such a spooky coincidence.

[3lilreds in NC]

I don't get the paper here, and know very few people, so there wouldn't be much point in my reading the obits. Almost everyone I would know, I would learn about at church. Even then, people pass away and I have no idea who they were - I feel like a big goob but we have a lot of elderly members who live at nursing homes and don't come to church.

 

I should get the little paper from where I grew up. I knew so many people there, and there have been people my age who have passed that I wish I'd known about.

 

I never did read the obits when I did get a paper, but my mom always does. She's a hospice nurse, and before that she was an oncology nurse. She goes to an uncommonly large number of funerals.

 

Rebecca, your story made me think that I should be reading them, even here. I wonder if they are online.

[LizzyBee]

I read them. I want to know if someone I know died.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I do read the obits when I read the paper, but it's not a regular habit for me to read the paper, so I'd say I read them about once a month.

[TeacherZee]

I read them in the little local paper (published 3 days a week). I often come across people I know, but then I occasionally work at the local nursing home ;). Sometimes it is just that I know their kids or grandkids.

 

Sometimes I read them in the "big" paper too, I'm also one of those people who wonder what people died of, especially when someone is pretty young.

[Parrothead]

 

I guess I should be worried that I am so familiar with the wording of obituaries. :D

During my very short stint at a local paper I used to write the obits. Nothing as dramatic or colorful as the ones you are reading though.

[LidiyaDawn]

Gah! No! where's a hiding-under-the-blankets smiley when i need one….

[cat]

My mom always has. Since I've moved away to a town where I don't know very many people, I don't. I could see it if I still lived back home.

[Amy in NH]

Should have made this a poll! Yep, I do. I'm always interested in ages, causes, and sometimes I see ppl I know or who are parts of families I know, which allows me to send condolences.

[Maverick_Mom]

During my very short stint at a local paper I used to write the obits. Nothing as dramatic or colorful as the ones you are reading though.

 

I think Celia Rivenbark started off writing obits.

[texasmama]

I read them.

[RoughCollie]

No, I don't.

[EppieJ]

I don't - we don't even take a paper. But my mother used to read them (still does). Reading the obits is how she came up with my sister's name! :D

[KrissiK]

I read them. I think they're interesting. I like to see what people have said about them after they pass on. I also find it interesting how old people are when they die. Some people live a long time.

[LibraryLover]

I have always read the local paper front to back, no matter where we have lived. There are so many things happening in even small communities.

Edited June 6, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Blessedchaos]

Yes, I read them every week in the Sunday paper.

[elizabeth]

Daily. It is our business to do so. Wills, trusts, estates =going to many funerals, at least one a month. It is awesome to see how very loved and treasured people are who never did anything extraordinary but love and give to others without measure. It gives me hope that not all people are self centered and shallow.

[elise1mds]

I read the obits whenever I read the paper. I used to be the one writing them back when I was a reporter, and holy cow, the things people want published are insane! No offense to anyone who might have done this, but most of the time, the poetry was the worst. Don't write poetry when you're grieving. Not a good idea. Anyway, I never knew what was going to come in. Where I worked, death notices were free and obits were paid. The ones with the picture, details, "meet her Maker" stuff... that all came under the paid category. There was one obit that my boss had stuck to the side of her computer because it was so... um... interesting... let's just say the word "soooo-ie!" was involved, as well as the aforementioned 'poetry.'

 

I have to say, too, that the funeral home guys who dropped off the obits each morning were a RIOT. I've never met such a bunch of interesting guys anywhere else. They weren't morbid, just awesome. :)