Obituaries

Our Central Library has Indianapolis newspapers on microfilm from about 1822 to the present. You may access the microfilm collection in person during library hours. We have limited staff resources for doing searches, so you will need to provide an exact date of death or burial (see sources below). We will search the newspapers within 5 days of the date of death or burial.

If you would like us to send you a copy of an obituary, you will need to provide us with the following information:

Full name of the deceased
Exact date of death or burial
Your name and mailing address

These resources may assist you in determining the date of death or burial:

Indiana State Library Genealogy Division Has a printed index of Marion County death records 1882-1920.
Marion County Health Department (MCDH): Birth & Death Certificates The MCDH has death certificates as far back as 1879.
Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH): Birth & Death Certificates Death records in the ISDH Vital Records office begin with 1900. See their website for more details about this.

Need help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian.