I don't use the message boards but want to acknowledge receipt of this and one other reply from gatewayed message to my query. I appreciate the help. Awkoska/Fran While I don't know of an online site that has the *text* of Tampa area obituaries prior to 1990, I do know of TRAILS, which is a volunteer-created database that provides an *index* to obituaries that appeared in the Tampa Tribune and some of the earlier newspapers in the Tampa area. It goes all the way back to the earliest newspaper issues and goes forward into the 1980s. TRAILS can be accessed from the TRAILS link on this page: http://www.hcplc.org/hcplc/dw/genealogy.html The full text of the Tampa Tribune from January 1, 1990 forward is available online in such databases as Access World News, which your local public or academic library may provide access to.