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Search Oklahoma Obituaries
Look up obituaries, death records and people by name.
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Obituary guide
How to find an obituary in Oklahoma
For a recent death, start with the funeral home's website and the local paper's obituary page. For an older obituary, try the Oklahoma Historical Society. It keeps an index of deaths reported in The Oklahoman and the state's largest newspaper collection, and its Gateway to Oklahoma History has many papers digitized.
What to have ready
- Full name, including a maiden name or nickname
- Approximate date and place of death (city and county)
- Age at death or birth year
- Names of close relatives (spouse, children, parents)
Tip: Knowing the county narrows the search more than anything else, because most obituaries ran only in the local paper.
Where to look, by when the person died
| When the person died | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Last few years | Funeral home websites; newspaper obituary pages (listed below); Legacy.com's Oklahoma page |
| 1990s to recent decades | The Oklahoma Historical Society's index of deaths in The Oklahoman (1972–2014); Tulsa City-County Library, where cardholders can search the Tulsa World online from 1989 on; Metropolitan Library System (Oklahoma City area) |
| Older or historic | The Gateway to Oklahoma History; OHS newspaper microfilm; Tulsa's Death Notice Index (Tulsa World 1963–1990, Tulsa Tribune 1964–1990); Chronicling America; county genealogical societies |
| Official death record | OK2Explore indexes deaths from more than five years ago. See how to order an Oklahoma death record. |
Major newspapers' obituary pages
Each page loaded without a login on our check. Older news archives usually need a subscription or a library card.
Libraries and archives
- Oklahoma Historical Society obituary index: more than 275,000 names. Copies cost $15.
- OHS newspapers: about 4,000 titles from 1844 to the present, on more than 42,000 microfilm reels you can view at the Research Center.
- Tulsa City-County Library Death Notice Index
- Metropolitan Library System help page
Timeline expectations
- Recent obituaries appear when the family or funeral home publishes them, so timing varies.
- OK2Explore shows deaths from more than five years ago. Death records over 50 years old are open records.
- State death filing began in October 1908, so earlier deaths are usually found only in newspapers, church records or cemetery records.
Tips
- On the Gateway, search obit* to catch "obituary", "obituaries" and "obits".
- Tulsa's library charges a $10 minimum for an obituary lookup. Staff search 10 days of microfilm, so send the date of death if you have it.
- Use OK2Explore to get the date first, then look for the newspaper notice.
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.