In a message dated 1/14/2003 5:01:42 PM Central Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > It should be remembered that long ago, obituaries were not a service > provided by the newspaper, but had to be paid for. Only people with money > to spare could afford to place an obituary in the newspaper As an old newspaperman, let me say that, in "the olden days," most papers published obits as a public service. In more recent times, papers (especially the metropolitan papers) have started charging for this service. I think most small papers still run them free of charge. One other thing to remember is that, when the obits were/are free, the information was usually provided by the funeral director. Alcoholism was an occupational illness among some of these guys, and their information was not always reliable. I found a death certificate which gave a relative's place of birth, which did not agree with what I had found elsewhere. Then, I saw that the death certificate information was provided by a funeral director with whom I was familiar. He was not noted for accuracy, and he always insisted on spelling "Baptist" as "Babtist." I guess the moral of the story is to always check out your information. Ken Parker