Florida Obituaries

Florida’s first newspaper appeared in 1783 under British rule. The University of Florida’s Florida Digital Newspaper Library and the State Archives’ Florida Memory site are the two main free resources for obituary research.

Recent Florida obituaries (2000 to today)

Most obituaries published since about 2000 are online. Daily papers post paid death notices and family-written obituaries in an Obituaries section, usually hosted by Legacy.com, and keep them online with a guest book. The largest daily papers in Florida are:

• Miami Herald
• Tampa Bay Times
• Orlando Sentinel
• South Florida Sun Sentinel
• Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)
• Palm Beach Post
• Tallahassee Democrat

Legacy.com’s Florida page searches the obituaries of most of these papers and many smaller ones at once. Funeral homes also post obituaries on their own websites, often before the newspaper does and sometimes instead of it: search the person’s name with the town and “obituary” or “funeral home.” For obituaries no longer online, ask your public or state library: many offer NewsBank or ProQuest databases with the full text of recent newspapers, free with a library card.

Florida obituaries in historic newspapers

The East Florida Gazette was printed in St. Augustine in 1783, during the British period. After Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821, papers in Pensacola, St. Augustine, Tallahassee and Key West reported deaths, often of soldiers, sailors and people who died of fever.

Florida grew slowly until the late 1800s, when railroads, citrus and tourism brought rapid growth. Many people who died in Florida had moved there late in life, so their obituaries also ran in home-town papers in the North and Midwest. Tampa’s Spanish- and Italian-language papers and Miami’s Spanish-language press record Cuban and other immigrant communities.

Florida death records begin in 1877, but statewide registration was not complete until about 1917. Before that, newspapers, church records and cemetery records are the main sources.

Where to find older Florida obituaries

Digitized Florida newspapers

• Florida Digital Newspaper Library, University of Florida — Free digitized Florida newspapers from across the state.

Obituary and death indexes

• Florida Death Index, 1877–1998 (FamilySearch) — Free statewide index of Florida deaths, giving the date and county to search.

Archives and libraries

• Florida Memory, State Archives of Florida — Digitized records from the State Archives and State Library of Florida, including some early death records.
• Florida Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Florida newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with local links.

Also search the nationwide archives: Chronicling America, FamilySearch, Find a Grave, Newspapers.com. See all nationwide obituary resources.

Florida death records

Anyone can order a Florida death certificate without the cause of death; the version with cause of death is limited to family and others with an interest for 50 years. Order from FDOH or any county health department. Florida death records begin in 1877; statewide registration was not complete until about 1917. See also our guide to Florida public records.

• Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics (FDOH) — the office that issues Florida death certificates, with ordering instructions and fees.
• Where to Write for Vital Records: Florida — the CDC’s summary of where to order, current fees and which years the office holds.
• Florida Vital Records, FamilySearch Research Wiki — free death indexes and certificate collections, with the years each covers.

Tips for finding an obituary in Florida

• Search the hometown paper. Many people who died in Florida were retirees, and their main obituary ran up north.
• Use the Death Index. The Florida Death Index, 1877–1998, gives the county, which tells you which paper to search.
• Try county health departments. Any Florida county health department can issue a death certificate for a death anywhere in the state since 2009.
• Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks, and often listed married women under the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). See death notices vs. obituaries.

Common questions