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Search Missouri Obituaries
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Obituary guide
How to find an obituary in Missouri
For a recent death, start with the funeral home's website and the obituary pages of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kansas City Star or your local paper. For an older obituary, the Missouri State Archives has death certificates from 1910 to 1975 online, the State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO) has digitized newspapers, and St. Louis County Library keeps a long-running Post-Dispatch obituary index.
What to have ready
- Full name, including a maiden name
- Approximate date and place of death (city and county, or the City of St. Louis)
- Age at death or birth year
- Names of close relatives (spouse, children, parents)
Tip: Knowing the county narrows the search the most. The City of St. Louis is separate from St. Louis County.
Where to look, by when the person died
| When the person died | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Last few years | Funeral home websites; the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star on Legacy.com; Legacy.com's Missouri page |
| 1990s to recent decades | St. Louis County Library's Post-Dispatch obituary index (includes 1992–2023); newspaper databases at your library with a library card; Mid-Continent Public Library genealogy |
| Older or historic | SHSMO's Missouri Digital Newspaper Project; the Post-Dispatch index for 1880–1931, 1942–1945, 1960–1970 and January–June 1971; Chronicling America; microfilm at public libraries; county genealogical societies |
| Official death record | The Missouri State Archives has death certificates, 1910–1975 online. For later deaths, see how to order a Missouri death record. |
Major newspapers' obituary pages
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on Legacy.com
- Kansas City Star, on Legacy.com
- Legacy.com's Missouri page: an index of Missouri newspaper and funeral home notices
Libraries and archives
- Missouri State Archives death certificates and Archives FAQ
- SHSMO digital newspapers: open to the public and keyword searchable, with more titles at SHSMO research centers
- SHSMO Quick Search: staff look up a newspaper item for a fee that covers up to 10 photocopies. It's $10 for members, $20 for Missouri residents and $30 for non-residents.
- St. Louis County Library lookups: electronic scans are emailed at no charge, one request at a time
- Mid-Continent Public Library's Midwest Genealogy Center, with its Genealogy Quick Look indexes: Kansas City Star and Times obituaries (1975–2006, some years incomplete) and the Independence Examiner (1900–1959). For people not indexed, email mgc@mymcpl.org with the name and date of death.
- Kansas City Public Library obituaries guide: there's no Kansas City obituary index, but if you know the date of death, staff will search local papers for it
Timeline expectations
- Recent obituaries: these appear online once the family or funeral home publishes them, so timing varies.
- Online death certificates: run from 1910 to 1975.
- Post-Dispatch index: has gaps (see the years above).
- SHSMO and library lookups: turnaround isn't stated.
Tips
- Look up the death certificate first (1910–1975). It gives the exact date and place for your newspaper search.
- In the St. Louis area, use the St. Louis County Library index before paging through microfilm.
- In the Kansas City area, search Genealogy Quick Look first, then ask the Midwest Genealogy Center or Kansas City Public Library for a lookup.
Last verified:
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.
More about Missouri obituaries
Coroner's inquests
In Missouri, the coroner is a county official, usually elected, who looks into deaths that were accidental, unusual or suspicious. The Missouri State Archives' Coroner's Inquest Database indexes these records for a number of counties, the City of St. Louis (1845–1900) and the St. Louis Medical Examiner (1889–1899). You can search by county, name, cause of death or year. Each entry gives the age, date, cause and place of death, plus the microfilm reel.
To order copies, email the citation to the Archives at archref@sos.mo.gov, and they'll tell you the cost. The project is ongoing, and more counties are added over time.