Obituaries in Des Moines, IA | The Des Moines Register (2024)

FAQs

How do I find a local obituary? ›

Many funeral homes publish obituaries on their websites. These can usually be located with a Google search on the person's name. Local genealogical and historical societies, public libraries, and some newspaper publishers maintain clipping files of obituaries.

The FamilySearch Library has two large alphabetical collections of Iowa obituaries. The original collections are at the Iowa Genealogical Society, where most of the obituaries were collected. These obituaries date from about 1850 to 1991.

Need help publishing an obituary in Des Moines Register? Obituaries can also be telephoned to our support team at +1 (800) 917-9207 or sent by email to gannettobits@​obituaries.com.

An average obituary can easily be $200.00-500.00. Costs vary by publication. Newspapers charge by the line and can average $450 for a complete obituary. The average obituary cost begins at $200.00 and increases due to the amount of content, including a photograph and the length of the obituary.

All you need to navigate an online obituary finder is the full name of the deceased (although other criteria, like birth date and location, can help narrow down your search.) If the person you're searching for passed away in your same city, it can also be helpful to visit your local mortuary's website.

As funeral homes across America post obituaries to their respective funeral home website, The Obituary App organizes them all into particular cities. Now, a user can look at all the obituaries posted by multiple funeral homes in one place.

Marriage and death records that occurred in Iowa after 1954 and birth records that occurred after 1985 are on a statewide system and can be obtained at any Iowa county Recorder's Office. Birth and death records that occurred before these dates must be obtained from the county in which the event occurred.

Obituaries and death notices can be published by alumni organizations, religious or community institutions, and professional organizations, or online.

Public Records Search (PRS)

Access PRS by entering the first and last name of the deceased person along with their approximate birth and death years. While registration is required, it's a free service, and additional details may be available through a subscription.

When writing an obituary for a woman who had a maiden name, simply write her first name and then in parentheses write her maiden name and then her married last name. For instance, Laura (Ingalls) Wilder, Marie (Sklodowska) Curie or Julia (McWilliams) Childs.

Is there a proper way to write an obituary? ›

There really is no "right way" to write an obituary. However, most obituaries will next include the person's birth information, including where they were born and the name of their parents. It's common to include their job and career information if it applies. You may want to add any educational achievements.

Publishing it in local or smaller metropolitan newspapers costs around $60 to start. Large metropolitan newspapers charge anywhere from $263 to several thousands of dollars. Cheaper alternatives to publishing in the newspaper include online-only newspapers, memorial websites and social media.

Since newspapers were the best and (sometimes, only) method of communication, they could afford to charge what they wanted. Additionally, newspapers have to print out obituaries when they're published. This means paper, ink, and time go into the total cost of an obituary being published.

Many newspapers charge by the line or inch for obituaries, not by the word.

Two state-level California Death Indexes can be found at Ancestry.com (a database anyone can access from any library branch and Central Library) or FamilySearch.org (a free internet database).

However, many of the county libraries in South Carolina have special indexes for obituaries from local newspapers and may have the newspapers on microfilm. See the LibGuide at statelibrary.sc.libguides.com/sc-obituary-resources for information on how libraries help users with information in this field.

Legacy.com and Ancestry.com: These are the Googles of the obituary world. Pop in the dearly departed's name (and any other details you might have, like their hometown) and let the search engine magic do its thing.