Obituary & people search
Search New Jersey Obituaries
Look up obituaries, death records and people by name.
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Obituary guide
How to find an obituary in New Jersey
For a recent death, start with the funeral home's website and the obituary pages of The Star-Ledger, The Press of Atlantic City or your county paper. For an older obituary, the New Jersey State Archives holds death records from 1848 to 1950, and the Newark Public Library has digitized Newark newspapers and runs an obituary request service.
What to have ready
- Full name, including a maiden name
- Approximate date and place of death (town and county)
- Age at death or birth year
- Names of close relatives (spouse, children, parents)
Tip: Knowing the county narrows the search the most. Most New Jersey papers cover one county or region.
Where to look, by when the person died
| When the person died | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Last few years | Funeral home websites; The Star-Ledger and The Press of Atlantic City on Legacy.com; Legacy.com's New Jersey page |
| 1990s to recent decades | Newspaper databases at your county or town library with a library card; the Newark Public Library, where The Star-Ledger is digitized back to 1945 (in the library only); the New Jersey State Library |
| Older or historic | The Newark Evening News (1883–1972) and Sunday Call (1872–1946) online through Newark Public Library; Chronicling America; microfilm at county libraries; county genealogical societies |
| Official death record | The State Archives holds deaths from May 1848 to December 1950 and has an online index for 1848–1878. See how to order a New Jersey death record. |
Major newspapers' obituary pages
- The Star-Ledger (Newark), on Legacy.com
- The Press of Atlantic City: the paper's own obituary link leads here
- Legacy.com's New Jersey page: an index of New Jersey newspaper and funeral home notices
NJ.com, the Asbury Park Press, The Record (NorthJersey.com) and the Courier-Post have obituary pages, but their sites blocked our checks.
Libraries and archives
- New Jersey State Archives genealogical collections: the Archives does mail research on its vital records
- State Archives searchable databases
- Newark Public Library genealogy and its obituary request form
- New Jersey State Library
Timeline expectations
- Recent obituaries: these appear online once the family or funeral home publishes them, so timing varies.
- State Archives records: deaths from 1848 to 1950. The online death index covers 1848–1878.
- Newark papers: digitized from 1872. Other papers' coverage varies.
- Newark Public Library lookups: limited to three obituary, death notice or article lookups (or 30 minutes of research) per person per month. Out-of-state residents pay $15 for up to three obituaries. Turnaround isn't stated.
Tips
- For Newark and Essex County, the Newark Public Library's digitized papers are the richest source.
- If you don't know the date of death, start with a cemetery database or the State Archives index. Newark Public Library notes that finding a notice without a date is hard.
- Shore and South Jersey deaths often appear in The Press of Atlantic City rather than the North Jersey papers.
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.