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Search Oregon Obituaries
Look up obituaries, death records and people by name.
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Obituary guide
How to find an obituary in Oregon
For a recent death, start with the funeral home's website and the local paper's obituary page. For an older obituary, search Historic Oregon Newspapers at the University of Oregon. For The Oregonian, use Multnomah County Library, which you can search with a library card.
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 it tells you which local paper to check.
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 Oregon page |
| 1990s to recent decades | Multnomah County Library obituary guide (The Oregonian, 1861 to the present); your county library's newspaper databases |
| Older or historic | Historic Oregon Newspapers; the Historical Oregonian, 1861–1987; the UO's Oregonian obituary card index (1975–1987); Chronicling America; county genealogical societies |
| Official death record | The Oregon State Archives holds death certificates for 1903–1969 and an index for 1903–2008. See how to order an Oregon death record. |
Major newspapers' obituary pages
- The Oregonian / OregonLive, with listings at obits.oregonlive.com
- Statesman Journal (Salem)
- The Register-Guard (Eugene)
- Legacy.com, Oregon
Each page loaded without a login on our check. Older news archives usually need a subscription or a library card.
Libraries and archives
- Historic Oregon Newspapers (University of Oregon): almost 3.6 million pages
- UO Libraries obituary research guide
- Multnomah County Library: The Oregonian and the Oregon Journal (1902–1982)
- Oregon State Library
Timeline expectations
- Recent obituaries appear when the family or funeral home publishes them, so timing varies.
- Historic Oregon Newspapers spans 1846 to 2026. Coverage varies by town and year.
- State death certificates start in 1903, and the State Archives index runs to 2008.
Tips
- For a Portland-area death before 1983, check both The Oregonian and the Oregon Journal. Multnomah County Library has both.
- If the person died between 1975 and 1987, the UO card index can give you the exact Oregonian date.
- In older papers, search the married and maiden names, plus the husband's name ("Mrs. John Smith"). Women were often listed that way.
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.