“Near” relatives.
That could be near in the geographic sense or near in the biological sense. Boston, Mass. and West Point, Illinois, are not geographically close. The obituary meant the sisters in Boston and the local niece were the only biologically close relatives the deceased had–not that they were the ones who lived nearby.
Some words can have more than one meaning. Sometimes that is easy to forget.
One response
When I read papers to fill out, I sometimes have problems trying to decipher the meaning of what they r asking. When I ask the Clerk or person in charge , many times they will tell me they r not always sure either.