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Search Connecticut Obituaries
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Obituary guide
How to find an obituary in Connecticut
For a recent death, check the funeral home's website and the obituary page of the Hartford Courant or the local daily. For an older death, the Connecticut State Library's indexes and digitized papers from the Connecticut Digital Newspaper Project are the best places to start.
What to have ready
- The person's full name, including a maiden name or nickname
- The approximate date of death and the town where they died
- Their age or birth year
- Names of close relatives
In Connecticut, knowing the town matters most. Death records are kept by town, and most obituaries ran in the nearest daily.
Where to look, by when the person died
| When the person died | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Last few years | The funeral home's website; obituary pages of the Hartford Courant, New Haven Register, Connecticut Post, The Day and Stamford Advocate; Legacy.com |
| 1990s to recent decades | Newspaper databases at your public library, often usable from home with a library card |
| Older or historic | The Connecticut State Library's genealogy indexes, including its Marriage & Death Notices index; the Connecticut Digital Newspaper Project on Chronicling America; microfilm at your public library |
| Official death record | Connecticut death certificates come from the town where the death happened or from the state vital records office. See how to order a Connecticut death certificate. |
Major newspapers' obituary pages
- Hartford Courant
- New Haven Register (on Legacy.com)
- Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, on Legacy.com)
- The Day (New London, on Legacy.com)
- Stamford Advocate (on Legacy.com)
- Republican-American (Waterbury, on Legacy.com)
Recent listings are open to read. Older articles may need a subscription.
Libraries and archives
- Connecticut State Library in Hartford keeps several genealogy indexes, and you can ask staff to search them. Its Marriage & Death Notices index covers about 1755 to 1870. Each slip gives the name, the date and the newspaper the notice came from. The death notices are filed together with the Hale Collection of cemetery inscriptions.
- Connecticut Digital Newspaper Project is the state's part of the National Digital Newspaper Program. It digitizes historic Connecticut papers for Chronicling America, and its current grant cycle runs from January 2026 to December 2027.
- Local libraries such as the Ferguson Library in Stamford often keep their town's paper on microfilm.
Timeline expectations
- Recent obituaries usually appear online within days, often before the service.
- The State Library's notices index covers about 1755 to 1870. Coverage of digitized papers after that varies by town and title.
- Turnaround for State Library index searches isn't posted. Ask when you request one.
Tips
- Because Connecticut keeps death records by town, find the town first. Then you'll know which paper and which town clerk to try.
- Early notices often name a married woman as "Mrs." with her husband's name, so search under his name too.
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Note: Coverage years, fees and web addresses are set by the libraries, archives and newspapers listed and can change. PublicLibraries.com is not affiliated with them.