Iowa Obituaries

Iowa’s newspapers date to 1836, and the State Historical Society of Iowa holds hundreds of titles on microfilm. Many Iowa papers have also been digitized and made free through local libraries and the Society’s partners.

Recent Iowa 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 Iowa are:

• Des Moines Register
• The Gazette (Cedar Rapids)
• Quad-City Times (Davenport)
• Sioux City Journal
• Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
• Telegraph Herald (Dubuque)

Legacy.com’s Iowa 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.

Iowa obituaries in historic newspapers

The Dubuque Visitor was printed in 1836, when Iowa was part of Wisconsin Territory. As settlement moved west across the state, nearly every county seat founded a weekly paper, and many towns supported two, one for each political party.

Iowa had a strong immigrant press, including the Norwegian-language Decorah-Posten, which circulated nationally from 1874 to 1972, along with German, Danish, Czech and Dutch papers. Small-town Iowa obituaries are often long and detailed, naming birthplaces, marriages, church membership and surviving family members.

The State Historical Society of Iowa has digitized more than 400,000 pages through the National Digital Newspaper Program. Many other Iowa papers have been digitized from its microfilm and made free by Advantage Preservation for local libraries, and the Society’s research centers in Des Moines and Iowa City offer free access to Iowa titles on NewspaperArchive.

Where to find older Iowa obituaries

Digitized Iowa newspapers

• Newspapers, State Historical Society of Iowa — Guide to free digitized Iowa papers, microfilm and partner archives.
• Iowa newspapers on Chronicling America — Free Iowa titles digitized for the Library of Congress.
• Advantage Archives (Iowa local newspaper archives) — Free archives of local papers hosted for many Iowa public libraries; find your town's library archive here.

Archives and libraries

• Iowa Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Iowa 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.

Iowa death records

Iowa has registered deaths statewide since 1880, though registration was incomplete before 1921. Certified copies go to family and others with an interest from Iowa HHS or the county recorder; older records are at the State Historical Society of Iowa.

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

Tips for finding an obituary in Iowa

• Check the town library's archive. Many Iowa public libraries host free digitized local papers through Advantage Archives.
• Use county recorders. Iowa county recorders hold death records and are often faster than the state office.
• Search the county weekly. Rural Iowa obituaries ran in the county seat's weekly, often with a long biography.
• 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