Can someone help me find an Obituary from 2002?

Question

Richard Walter Bagwell was born October 12, 1928 and died September 23, 2002.  He was born and died in San Bernadino. I am on SSI and don't have the resources to pay for memberships to all these places. Everytime I get close to maybe finding something, you have a pay. Isn't an Obituary public records?

sbdfhs · Accepted Answer

Firstly, a printed obituary is not an automatic thing after a death. Someone will have to pay for its inclusion in a newspaper etc. In the UK you must also supply a copy of the Death Certificate to the publication involved before they will print one.

If somebody was that interested in the death to actually submit an obituary, you should first contact the local newspapers in the area that  would have carried it. Give them the dates and ask if there is a away that back issues can be checked. 

Even if you have a limited income a search on the net for local papers and an email or a letter sent by snail mail would be affordable options.

Greco · Answer

If you're in the San Bernardino area you could go to the library or newspaper office and look it up. They usually microfilm old newspapers. 

Obituaries aren't public records. They are more like an advertisement in some papers where you have to pay to have the newpaper to publish it. That's usually paid by the funeral home and then billed to the family unless they specify they don't want to pay for it. Some newspapers don't charge for it. Usually just the small papers don't charge. Also it seems the San Bernardino paper doesn't keep much archived on the internet.

Good luck finding what you need.

HSK&#39;s mama · Answer

Since you have the death date of Richard W. Bagwell, I suggest that you make a request at Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness. 

http://www.raogk.com/californ4.htm

There appears to be someone who will do obituary lookups for San Bernardino county named Christine. This request MAY OR MAY NOT be free depending on the researcher. Many times, I have gotten free information using RAOGK; however, always offer to pay copying and mailing expenses as a courtesy. a couple of bucks is a SMALL price to pay for the meaningful information you will hopefully glean from this request. These people are taking time out of their day to attend to your request. That means using their gas and time to help. Also, this may sound like common sense, but ALWAYS thank your volunteer. 

Here is a link to the guidelines for using Random Acts
http://www.raogk.com/faq-requesters.htm

I hope this helps.

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Can someone help me find an Obituary from 2002?

3 Answers