Obituary & people search
Search Pennsylvania Obituaries
Look up obituaries, death records and people by name.
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- All 50 states + D.C.
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Obituary guide
How to find an obituary in Pennsylvania
For a recent death, start with the funeral home's website and the local paper's obituary page. For an older obituary, try the Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive at Penn State and the library in the county where the person died. Pennsylvania residents can also see state death certificates from 1906–1972 on Ancestry at no cost.
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. Pennsylvania has 67 counties, and each has its own papers and library indexes.
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 Pennsylvania page |
| 1990s to recent decades | Library newspaper databases you can use with a card, such as the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Post-Gazette archive; your county library's indexes |
| Older or historic | The Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive; the State Library's genealogy collections; the Allentown Public Library's Morning Call obituary index (1895–1983); Chronicling America; county historical and genealogical societies |
| Official death record | Certificates from 1906 on that are at least 50 years old are public at the Pennsylvania State Archives. See how to order a Pennsylvania death record. |
Major newspapers' obituary pages
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- The Patriot-News / PennLive, on Legacy.com
- The Morning Call (Allentown)
- Erie Times-News
- The Times-Tribune (Scranton)
Each page loaded without a login on our check. Older news archives usually need a subscription or a library card.
Libraries and archives
- Pennsylvania State Archives: death records
- Requesting a birth or death certificate (PHMC): the Archives holds 1906–1975.
- State Library of Pennsylvania: Harrisburg necrology scrapbooks and an index to Harrisburg newspapers for 1799–1827
- Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive (Penn State): papers from all 67 counties
- Philadelphia's public library: obituary lookup FAQ
Timeline expectations
- Recent obituaries appear when the family or funeral home publishes them, so timing varies.
- Post-Gazette: Carnegie Library's archive covers 1786–2003, and its digital microfilm from 2009 on runs about three months behind.
- State death certificates begin in 1906 and become public after 50 years.
Tips
- Philadelphia's public library charges $10 for up to three obituary lookups. It checks two newspapers and needs the exact date of death or burial.
- Ancestry Pennsylvania lets residents view 1906–1972 death certificates at no cost. The certificate gives the exact date you need for a newspaper lookup.
- For Lehigh Valley deaths, Allentown's Morning Call index is complete for 1895–1983.
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.