Obituary & people search
Search Delaware Obituaries
Look up obituaries, death records and people by name.
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Obituary guide
How to find an obituary in Delaware
For a recent death, check the funeral home's website and the News Journal's obituary pages. For an older death, the Wilmington Library will search its local newspapers back to 1871, and the Delaware Public Archives has indexes going back much further.
What to have ready
- The person's full name, including a maiden name or nickname
- The approximate date of death, and the town and county where they died
- Their age or birth year
- Names of close relatives
Knowing the county narrows your search the most, because it points you to the right local paper.
Where to look, by when the person died
| When the person died | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Last few years | The funeral home's website; the News Journal (Wilmington), Delaware State News and Cape Gazette obituary pages; Legacy.com |
| 1990s to recent decades | The Wilmington Library's online Delaware Index, from 1989 on; newspaper databases at your public library |
| Older or historic | Wilmington Library's obituary search service; the Delaware Public Archives' newspaper abstracts, 1789–1850 and death records index; microfilm at your library |
| Official death record | Delaware death records become public after 40 years and are then kept by the Delaware Public Archives. See how to order a Delaware death certificate. |
Major newspapers' obituary pages
- The News Journal (Wilmington)
- Delaware State News (Dover)
- Cape Gazette (Lewes)
Recent listings are open to read. Older articles may need a subscription.
Libraries and archives
- The Wilmington Library has local newspapers on microfilm back to 1871 and will search them for you. Send your request by mail. Each name costs $5.00, even if nothing is found, with up to three names per request. For deaths from 1871 to 1960, you need the exact date of death. For deaths from 1960 on, the month and year are the minimum.
- Delaware Public Archives in Dover has transcribed birth, death and marriage notices from Delaware newspapers, 1789–1850. It also has an index to the state's death records collection, which spans 1700 to 1999.
Timeline expectations
- Recent obituaries usually appear online within days, often before the service.
- The Wilmington Library's index of major local news stories goes back to 1922. It's on cards for 1922–1977 and searchable online from 1989.
- Neither the library nor the archives posts a turnaround time.
Tips
- If you only know the year, search the Delaware Index or the Archives' death index first to find the exact date before requesting a microfilm search.
- Include any extra details with a Wilmington Library request, such as military service or a family business. The library says this helps its search.
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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.