FRPC GENEALOGY NEWSLETTER – Vol. 1 #5 – October 4, 2009 – Finding Relatively Current Obituaries Online
This is the fifth newsletter published by Family Roots Publishing. Enjoy!
The FREE FRPC Genealogy Newsletter (FRPC standing for Family Roots Publishing Company) contains genealogy-related tips, news, links, and product information. This is an “opt-in” newsletter. You are receiving it because you may have signed up for it at the Family Roots Publishing Company home page (upper left-hand corner), and/or purchased product from Family Roots Publishing Company (either online by phone, mail, or at a conference/seminar) recently.
FINDING RELATIVELY CURRENT OBITUARIES ONLINE
Last evening I got to thinking about my brother, who passed away last February. We attended a memorial for Neil Meitzler a couple weeks ago, and enjoyed the time spent reflecting on his life, and accomplishments. I realized that I’d never actually gotten an “official” copy of his obituary, although I did have one that was posted online by one of his friends. So I got to thinking that I needed to again see what I could find online. A few days after Neil passed away, I had searched the obituaries in the Walla Walla Union Herald, thinking that would be where I’d find his obit. I didn’t locate it, and set the project aside for a while.
Upon getting back to the search, and by “googling his name, “Herbert Neil Meitzler,” I got a couple items dealing with Neil’s passing, one being a wonderful article by Dee Bird, (who now calls me “Uncle Leland”) celebrating my brother’s life, as well as the obituary I mentioned above. See: http://journeyroadofamom.blogspot.com/2009/03/death-of-famous-artist.html . I also found a link to a blog I posted at GenealogyBlog.com, entitled “The Death Watch.” See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=1567 .
By Googling his commonly used name, “Neil Meitzler,” I came up with many more hits – the first mentioning his death being a long article at historylink.org – the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. Most of the article is taken from Deloris Ament’s book on Pacific Northwest artists, entitled Iridescent Light: The Emergence of Northwest Art (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002). However, information about his passing is included in the article. See: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5327 . I next came across the two websites that I mentioned in the earlier paragraph. I then found an online copy of the March 7, 2009 Church Bulletin for the College Place Village SDA Church in College Place, Washington. His death is mentioned in this Bulletin. See: http://www.villagesdachurch.org/site_data/214/assets/0006/7967/2009-03-07.pdf .
Googling “Meitzler, Neil,” and “Meitzler-Neil” brought basically the same results as above.
However, Googling on “Meitzler-Herbert Neil” brought excellent results. I first found a short obituary for Neil in the Gleaner Online. This is a website for a magazine published by the Northern Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The obit had a number of major errors, but at least it was there. See: http://www.gleaneronline.org/104/5/38535.html . I next found a listing for Neil at the Obitz.us website, and clicking on the link, I came up with a transcription of his obituary that stated that it was from NWsource on 3/1/2009. See: http://obitz.us/name/namemain.htm . I next found a reference to Neil’s obit that had been printed in the Seattle Times on March 1, 2009 – that reference being a a long listing of obits in the Obituary Daily times V15 #073 published by Walter E. Styles to a Rootsweb listserve. See: http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/GEN-OBIT/2009-03/1236382841 .
Okay – so much for using Google. I now went to the GenealogyBank Obituary database and immediately found a copy of the Neil’s obituary that had been printed in both the Seattle Times, as well as the Seattle PI on March 1.
Entering the Name, Neal Meitzler in the Search Engine at Legacy.com, < http://www.legacy.com/obituaries.asp?page=obitfinderresults&firstname=Neil&lastname=Meitzler&state=&daterange=Last1Yrs&newspaper=&keyword= > , I got a link to the Seattle Times obituary itself. See: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=124716462
Note that I tried various other online obit searches without finding Neil. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have if I’d continued searching, but what I found was sufficient and well worth the time spent. Note that I didn’t find Neil’s obituary printed in a newspaper where he passed away – but in Seattle, where Neil was best known and had lived most of his life.
Bill Dollarhide did a series of three articles about newspapers and obituary research in the Genealogical Helper in early 2008. These issues are still in print and available from Family Roots Publishing Co. To get copies, click on the links found in FEATURED PRODUCTS AT FRPC below.
NEWS
Surname Distribution Maps for Argentina, the Netherlands & United Kingdom Online – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=5826
Forty-nine Digital Newspapers Now Available from the British Library – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=5852
Confusius’ Family Tree Finished in 80 Books With Over 2M People Included – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=5864
Devon’s “Document Donor Card: Saves Family Papers – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=5877
Join Me at the Family History Expo in Redding, California – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=5913
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Blueprints Are Posted Online – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=5918
Roots Television is 3 YEars Old! – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=5956
FamilySearch Indexing Update (Sept 28, 2009) – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=5960
National Archives & Footnote.com Announce New Digital Holocaust Collection & It’s Fee Through October – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=5993
The 2010 Excellence in Writing Competition – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=6016
New York Public Library and Kirtas Technologies Partner to Make 500,000 Public-Domain Books Available – See: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=6046
FEATURED PRODUCTS AT FRPC
Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Jan-Feb 2008 – Featuring “The Best Digital Newspaper Sites on the Internet” – See: http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/store/product_view.php?id=82
Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Mar-Apr 2008 – Featuring “The Best Online Newspaper Sites on the Internet” – See: http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/store/product_view.php?id=81
Everton’s Genealogical Helper, May-June 2008 – Featuring “The Best Obituary Sites on the Internet” – See: http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/store/product_view.php?id=80
Map Guide to American Migration Routes – by William Dollarhide – See: http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/store/product_view.php?id=72
County Map of the United States – 39″x27″ – flat – rolled and mailed in a tube – See: http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/store/product_view.php?id=280
The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy – by Val Greenwood – See: http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/store/product_view.php?id=129
Reading Early American Handwriting, by Kip Sperry – See: http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/store/product_view.php?id=123
THE SALT LAKE CHRISTMAS TOUR
The Salt Lake Christmas Tour is known for having the highest ratio of consulting professional genealogists per attendee of any research tour to the Family History Library. Join us this year December 6 through 12, 2009. See: http://www.SaltLakeChristmasTour.com
ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
The newsletter is written by Leland K. Meitzler, the publisher at FRPC. Leland is best known as the founder of Heritage Quest (in 1985), and his editorship of Heritage Quest Magazine (1985-2005), and Everton’s Genealogical Helper (2006-2009). Leland is also known as a genealogy lecturer with over 2,000 genealogy lectures to his credit.
CONTACT INFO:
Family Roots Publishing Company, PO Box 830, Bountiful, Utah 84011; Phone 801-992-3705; Fax: 815-642-0103; Cell: 801-949-7259; email: Lmeitzler@gmail.com; http://www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com ; http://www.GenealogyBlog.com ; http://www.Salt Lake ChristmasTour.com ; Written by Leland K. Meitzler; Owned by Leland & Patty Meitzler.
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