How do i find an old obituary for free. looking for my dad.?

Question:have tried so many sights saying they are free...not so!!! i just want to see a picture of my father,i have never seen what he looked like.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: have tried so many sights saying they are free...not so!!! i just want to see a picture of my father,i have never seen what he looked like.

the MAJORITY of obituaries will not include pictures. The few that do, are normally well known persons, and the addition of a picture costs more. I would not expect that of an obituary, of course, if you luck out with that, it is gravy.
I have to assume that you have been searching sites that are limited to being an "obit collection" site. If that is all they do.. of course they are going to charge. They are trying to build a business on one product.
OK, so let me drag you away from thinking it "has" to be online. Obits are in newspapers. Go straight for the source (without the middleman). What you need is the date and place where he died, or more important, where his home was at the time of his death. He might have died in hospital 300 miles from home, the obit won't be there.
If he died in the US since about 1960s, he should be in the social security death index.
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/
remember, there may be more than one with his name, and his legal name might be different than you know. Play with it. Once you have the DATE, you can determine the probable newspaper of where he lived, and look them up online. They may have a website, or you might have to send a letter. They have archives, or the library might have the older ones.
For a picture.. you have to juggle this, if you think your mom knows who his parents or siblings are. If it was a hostile breakup, she may not want to tell you. Those are the persons who will have pictures. This gets to a judgement call. I can promise you this.. there are millions of kids (grandchildren) whose parents split, and the other grandparent grieves, for not knowing the grandchildren ( or nieces/ nephews). Although there are valid exceptions, children should not be denied the other side of a family when there are divorces. Finding dad's family is how you will get a picture. Once you have the info on who his family was (through obit or cooperation from mom), then you can decide if you want to contact them.

you could maybe google his name.

Do you know where he died? A local newspaper may have had a pic. Do you know where he went to high school? A yearbook picture? Try go get his social security number so you can start doing detective work on him. To trace him. You can always hire a private detective but who can afford them? I am so sorry for your painful situation in life. I will pray for you hon.

look up s.s. death index and it will give you links

If you know the paper it was in try that. You can normally search way back

Try the newspaper to the city he wouldve been from. They normally keep those files.

Or you can even try the library

Find out what state he died in first.

Go to the website of the newspaper or lead news channel of that state and city and look under obituaries. They will show you all of them since way back. I know because I have looked them up myself and that's how I do it.

Maybe looking in old news papers, and so what if it's not for free, if i haven't seen my dad in a long time, i would pay money to have is picture, and you can always print the picture out later.

If you know the death date and area (see Social Security death index) then you can email the nearest local library and ask if they can research it for you (actually, if you went in person, if possible, you might get a better response.) They often have indexes and microfilms of newspapers. They may be able to help you personally.

My heart goes out to you! Good luck in finding him!

Well, if you know when and where your father passed away, you can locate the local newspaper(s) in that city and request a copy of his obit. There is no quarantee that they will find one and there is also no quarantee that there was a photo published along with it. It all depends on what was given to the paper at the time. Usually it is a relative that gives them that information. Sometimes it is the funeral home. And that is your alternative to the obituary. They may have a photo on file with his information. You should contact both and do so by snail mail instead of the internet. It may take longer, but can yeild better results.

I searched I long time for my husband's mother. I finally found her burial site it Amarillo, Texas. My husband has also never seen her. I'd hoped to find a photo with her obit and it wasn't there. However, I did find out about other living relatives and I'm hoping that they will have a photo or two. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my DH.

Good luck with your research.

You might try www.findagrave.com if you know his name or where he died. Someone else may have submitted his information to the site and could have included a picture. I did this for my grandparents. You can look it up by his name, his death date, or the cemetery name/state.
Or let me know and I'll see if I can find him for you. :)

Try your library. Our library has free online databases for library card holders and I can access various online newspapers through it. I can also access Heritage Quest through it.
Another thought is Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) ~ look for a volunteer in the area he died in and ask them to help you.