Passing along a great site for searching obits <A HREF="http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/Homepage?p_action=doc&p_theme=current&p_nbid=E55I55QMMTA2MDM5MDUxMy4yNDUyNDQ6MTo1Omd1ZXN0">NewsBank InfoWeb</A> It was new to me and most helpful. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/Homepage?p_action=doc& p_theme=current&p_nbid=E55I55QMMTA2MDM5MDUxMy4yNDUyNDQ6MTo1Omd1ZXN0 If you ever need to log in, use "guest" as name and password. You choose the papers you wish to include in your search. The Chicago Tribune has archived obits from 1860-1984 in their HA(Historic Archives) collection. Not all of their years are indexed yet, but they are continually adding more. Most of the other papers listed are more current, as is the case of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. St. Louis, KC and Columbia have papers listed for MO. When searching in the Chicago area, you might start with a surname search in obits and death notices. if you don't find it there, do a general search in the HA area. That too will pull up the older obits. You can find out if that year is indexed yet by doing a search with a year or a date. Check it out. Especially if you have any lines in the Chicago area. Karen