Missouri Obituaries

Missouri offers free statewide death certificates from 1910 to 1975 and a free digitized newspaper collection from every county. That combination makes it one of the best states for obituary research.

Recent Missouri 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 Missouri are:

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• Kansas City Star
• Springfield News-Leader
• Columbia Daily Tribune
• Joplin Globe
• Southeast Missourian (Cape Girardeau)

Legacy.com’s Missouri 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.

Missouri obituaries in historic newspapers

Joseph Charless printed the Missouri Gazette in St. Louis in 1808. St. Louis became the gateway to the West, and its papers reported deaths among fur traders, river men and emigrants, as well as the cholera epidemic of 1849.

St. Louis had a very large German-language press in the 1800s, including the Anzeiger des Westens and the Westliche Post. Kansas City grew into a second newspaper center, and Black papers such as the St. Louis Argus and the Kansas City Call recorded deaths in African American communities from the early 1900s.

The State Historical Society of Missouri’s Missouri Digital Newspaper Project offers free searchable images of historic papers from every county. The Missouri State Archives’ death certificate database covers 1910 to 1975 and links to the certificate images.

Where to find older Missouri obituaries

Digitized Missouri newspapers

• Missouri Digital Newspapers, State Historical Society of Missouri — Free searchable historic Missouri newspapers from every county.

Obituary and death indexes

• Missouri Death Certificates, 1910–1975 — Free searchable index and images of Missouri death certificates.

Archives and libraries

• Newspaper Collection, State Historical Society of Missouri — The Society’s large Missouri newspaper collection on microfilm.
• Missouri Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Missouri 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.

Missouri death records

Missouri death certificates are restricted to family and others with an interest for 50 years, ordered from DHSS or a local health department. After 50 years the Missouri State Archives posts them free online.

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

Tips for finding an obituary in Missouri

• Start with the free certificates. Missouri death certificates from 1910 to 1975 are free online from the State Archives.
• Search both sides of the line. Kansas City and St. Louis papers covered Kansas and Illinois suburbs too.
• Use the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project. SHSMO has free digitized papers from every county.
• 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