What the Obituary Leaves Out

Any document or record can be incomplete, including obituaries. Death notices and obituaries can leave out significant details for one of several reasons:

  • editing or proofreading error;
  • limit on the length of the obituary;
  • cost of the obituary;
  • compiler doesn’t know certain things about the person;
  • compiler doesn’t want to mention certain events or people;
  • etc.

An obituary may indicate the deceased was married twice without mentioning what “happened” to the first spouse. They may have died while they were married or they may have divorced. Transcribe the obituary as written and use it for clues to further research. Obituaries can contain information that is completely true or partially true. Outright lies are less common–what’s more likely is a “lie of omission” than a blatant untrue statement. But that’s always possible.