I'm trying to find my mother's best friend. We know she died more than ten years ago, but we don't know(remember) where she is buried. I've called the cemeteries where we think she would have been buried, but no luck. I've called the library, and they have given me websites(like Find a Grave.com) that are worthless - looked up my dad, and my mom's dad, and they couldn't even find them!

Sorry for a sort of downer thread, but hopefully someone out here might be of some help.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

If you know where your mother's friend lived, that would make it easier. Try to find out where she or he lived. The best place to find things out is the internet. If you know the persons name, you could try searching by name. Keep us posted.

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Find someone who went to the funeral and ask them.

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Search the local news paper's obituary- find out the funeral home. They will have a record or internment.

I know the name and city, and I've called the local paper, which is a very good suggestion, but so far I've not been able to talk to someone helpful. I feel pretty silly. It seems like something that should be fairly easy to solve.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I know the name and city, and I've called the local paper, which is a very good suggestion, but so far I've not been able to talk to someone helpful. I feel pretty silly. It seems like something that should be fairly easy to solve.

Have you tried calling the civil registry of the town hall from that town? If you have the name, they will certainly know where the person is buried, even where he or she died and when.

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

I know the name and city, and I've called the local paper, which is a very good suggestion, but so far I've not been able to talk to someone helpful. I feel pretty silly. It seems like something that should be fairly easy to solve.

Have you tried calling the civil registry of the town hall from that town? If you have the name, they will certainly know where the person is buried, even where he or she died and when.

We don't have civil registry offices here in the US. At least I have never heard of one. We have County Recorders. The recorder's office might have the information but in most states birth and death records are maintained by the States. Getting the information from the state can be difficult. Here is the proceedure for getting a copy in California.
California Vital Records

All that type of info. should be in Sacramento's City Hall (If California.).
For me, it's in Providence -- records go back to 1636, believe it or not.

All that type of info. should be in Sacramento's City Hall (If California.).
For me, it's in Providence -- records go back to 1636, believe it or not.

I don't see why the city of Sacramento should have to keep those records for the whole state. It's a big enough city to have trouble keeping just its own records. A state as big as CA probably has a number of office buildings in its capital city and elsewhere around the state.

Here in Illinois, death records are kept by counties, but I don't know if that includes the burial location. However, if copies of the death certificate were requested by a funeral home (as a service to the bereaved) the county might have a record of what home it was, and the home would then probably know the burial location. If you know the funeral home, try asking them without bothering any level of government. Come to think of it, the name of the funeral home would probably be in the newspaper obit (even if the burial site isn't). [edit] I guess Carlos already said that part. [/edit]

(Both Cook and DuPage Counties charge $15 for the first copy of a death certificate and $5 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. That might be a statewide standard charge.)

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Good luck Sir.

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All that type of info. should be in Sacramento's City Hall (If California.).
For me, it's in Providence -- records go back to 1636, believe it or not.

For births and deaths within the City of Sacramento, that would have been true some years ago. Until 1992 records were kept according to state laws. Most states had thier own systems. Many allowed Cities and Counties to keep the records. But in 1992 the Federal CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL issued uniform regulations. All but 13 states adoped the regulations. As part of the regulations the State, not the city or the county became responsible for vital records. In California the cities and counties still collect the information but it's sent to Sacaramento (State offices not City) were it is maintained. In some cities and most county offices you can still get a copy. But the officail source is the State.

In most places in the USA, the death certificate lists the cemetery where they are buried, called the Final Disposition, and should also list the funeral home that handled the burial. You can find dates and places of death in the Social Security Master Death Index, which a few genealogy sites have searchable online. Knowing the date of death can narrow your search if you are looking at newspaper obituaries. Many papers now index their obits online, but they may be behind a paywall. One monkey wrench is if you knew the person under a nick name, the records are by legal name.

Good luck. It shouldn't be too hard, but it may take a while.

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In most places in the USA, the death certificate lists the cemetery where they are buried, called the Final Disposition, and should also list the funeral home that handled the burial. You can find dates and places of death in the Social Security Master Death Index, which a few genealogy sites have searchable online. Knowing the date of death can narrow your search if you are looking at newspaper obituaries. Many papers now index their obits online, but they may be behind a paywall. One monkey wrench is if you knew the person under a nick name, the records are by legal name.

Good luck. It shouldn't be too hard, but it may take a while.

I know my parents' and grandmother's death certs don't say where they were buried, because they weren't. They were cremated. My aunt has my grandmother and I have both of my parents in my living room.

But I think I was wrong earlier. My father's didn't come from Cook County, it came from the City of Evanston (location of the hospital).

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

In most places in the USA, the death certificate lists the cemetery where they are buried, called the Final Disposition, and should also list the funeral home that handled the burial. You can find dates and places of death in the Social Security Master Death Index, which a few genealogy sites have searchable online. Knowing the date of death can narrow your search if you are looking at newspaper obituaries. Many papers now index their obits online, but they may be behind a paywall. One monkey wrench is if you knew the person under a nick name, the records are by legal name.

Good luck. It shouldn't be too hard, but it may take a while.

+1

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

In most places in the USA, the death certificate lists the cemetery where they are buried, called the Final Disposition, and should also list the funeral home that handled the burial. You can find dates and places of death in the Social Security Master Death Index, which a few genealogy sites have searchable online. Knowing the date of death can narrow your search if you are looking at newspaper obituaries. Many papers now index their obits online, but they may be behind a paywall. One monkey wrench is if you knew the person under a nick name, the records are by legal name.

Good luck. It shouldn't be too hard, but it may take a while.

+1

+10

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I don't know if this link will help Gordon.
Public Obituary Records
http://www.publicrecordsreviews.com/Public-Obituary-Records




Good luck.

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I have been tracing family trees and grave sites pop up al the time. I am on Ancestry.com but there are other web sites that can be used as well. If you don't want to join a web site like that, PM the name, sex, age location information to me and I will run a search for you.

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I don't know if this link will help Gordon.
Public Obituary Records
http://www.publicrecordsreviews.com/Public-Obituary-Records

Good luck.

Many newspapers post their Obituaries to Legacy.com
You can access it through the participating newspapers' website.
You can search by name, city/state, and timeframe. Obituaries over a year old are archived, and you may have to pay a small fee to retrieve them. If the Obit lists the cemetery, you can often access gravesite info from the cemetery website.

Something to remember, not everyone is buried in a cemetery. Both my parents were cremated, and their ashes were mixed and spread in a planter around one of my mulberry trees. I'm going to be cremated and buries at sea off San Diego.

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Donald
Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired

We're reasonably certain this person was indeed buried, and locally, as this is where she grew up, and lived all her life. She and her husband are also more than likely buried together. I checked a couple of the main cemeteries here, but they don't have her. The local paper's online obits don't list her, but that could be because it was more than ten years ago, and they don't list my dad either, and he died in 1982. Unfortunately, the customer service at our local paper is practically non-existent nowadays, so they were not helpful at all.

That site that Lynn provided found who I'm looking for, but to get the actual report, it's $23, plus I'm not sure it would tell me where she's buried, or even if it tells her date of death, but if it told her DOD, that would certainly be something I could use. So, if it comes down to paying something, I'm ok with that.

p.s. I haven't checked with the County Clerk. They primarily house real estate records, and car registration/marriage records, but I guess they might have death certificates, too.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I have found the cemetery where my mother's friend is buried, thanks to Dena's very nice help. :~)

This thread can be closed.

~Gordon

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place