In a message dated 7/11/2001 9:01:09 PM Central Daylight Time, BFF1865@aol.com writes: > I would add that, from what I have found, there are decedents of certain > occupations who are not listed in the SSDI. Those with railroad retirement > accounts, teachers, construction workers, etc. may not be listed. In other > words, many who had separate pensions may not be included. In addition, > beware of spellings and name forms. My father, deceased in 1995, was just > listed this year. (He had a railroad pension, so it's lucky he is there at > all) His name was "James F. Keenan," but was listed under "J. Keenan" So, > all > my searches under "James" proved fruitless. I hope this is of some help. > I disagree with your statement that teachers might not be listed. In PA, teachers pay into social security, or they did for years up until I left teaching in PA in 1981. I just searched for and found at least four of my Scranton Grade school teachers in the SSDI. I believe failure to find a listing is due more to the family not reporting the death or to a mistake in typing in the name. I found in cases of the last surviving spouse whose children were grown, or deceased that the death was not reported. That doesn't 'mean they didn't have a social security card, merely that no one reported the death to SS. Gayle