Three posts ago I wrote about not knowing dates of death for my Mom and sister. I had tried searching but didn't have any luck.
Connie from Far Side of Fifty found my Mom's date of death. I should have been able to find it.
My sister's date of death was a bigger challenge. My best searchers didn't find anything. My son-in-law is an expert on genealogy and he couldn't find anything. So I checked with Vital statistics. They wanted $70.00 to find it. When I read that I very quickly decided to look a little harder. My brother was looking through some papers and there it was . He was surprised as he didn't know he had the date. He had a clipping from the paper that was an announcement of memoriam.
My niece who has looked for this information sent it to me. She also got another niece in on the search. It's interesting as these two were born 70's and 90's and would very likely not ever heard of Doreen.
So I didn't have to look very hard to find the date in the end. People are a great help.
I guess it's my age that got me thinking about dates of death.
Do other people start looking for this information at an earlier time?
Now I wonder what else I will need to know ?
That's great that your brother was able to locate your sister's date of death, Red. It must have given you some peace to finally have that information.
ReplyDeleteI recently started looking for information on my maternal grandmother and her family, as I had very little knowledge about her. She and my grandfather had separated when my mother and her siblings were very, very young. I was surprised to find that the Nova Scotia Archives had recently released information for certain years into their online database, so I was able to find quite a bit on that side of my family. The last time I looked (in the 90s) I couldn't find a thing. I think usually people don't start wondering until they get older, and by then the older family members are gone. Or, in a case like mine, no one ever talked about my grandmother because the separation was a source of bad feelings and shame. My mother can't even remember her mother except one time when her father pointed her out on the street when Mom was about six years old. Imagine.
Family break downs were very, very sad events. Yes, we start asking questions when it's too late.
DeleteThe information was closer at hand than you expected.
ReplyDeleteIt wasa surprise.
DeleteIt's wonderful to hear how helpful people have been in retrieving the lost information for you. I know that my brother and I are often frustrated by not being able to remember names and dates. A recent one: "What were the names of the children of the woman who used to cut our mother's hair?" - if we can spend time trying recall such trivial details, I can only imagine how much more distressing it must be when you don't know about close family members.
ReplyDeleteWe lose these dates because we think the other guy has them and we forget to ask.
DeleteI agree that it's always helpful to get other people involved. I'm working hard right now to record things I want the kids to have. I think we just want to pass on family information before we leave them.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that we can pass on family info and many times people don't value it enough to let it sink in.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI have found several family members that can remember dates better than I can. It does pay to ask. My memory is awful. Have a great weekend.
We were not ready , at age 13 , to keep and remember the date of our sister's death. It took me 70 years before I said, "Hey I wonder what was Doreen's date of death.
DeleteI don't now what it is, but I think we all want to know more about our family as we get older. Glad you found out what you need.
ReplyDeleteThe sad part is that we start thinking about things when it's too late.
DeleteA family effort to find something about a long departed family member. Perfect!
ReplyDeleteLife moved along and finally I said, "I wonder..." Fortunately we got lucky and found it.
DeleteWell, that's one more thing you don't have to wonder about. :-)
ReplyDeleteWondering about things. keeps us going.
DeleteIt's great when people help out! I wish I'd asked my parents a lot more questions while they were still alive.
ReplyDeleteI think everybody wishes they'd asked parents more questions. I think we suddenly panic when we see that this information will soon disappear.
DeleteSome people start early. I sort of did in my 50s. I didn’t know something about my great grandfather. Maybe it was his first name. I emailed a Mormon colleague who swiftly replied that his name was James and that he was a railway plater. So that was interesting. I have done a bit of genealogy since then, but I won’t be one of those who does deep dives.
ReplyDeleteThe LDS church has a huge genealogy sight.
DeleteYou are gathering the family history which is something my sister has been working on also. It is too late to ask our parents for their stories so we do the best we can to trace our roots. Will my children care? That remains to be seen...
ReplyDeleteOne family member in particular has developed a huge file on our family. she is a stickler for documentation.
DeleteI'm so glad that you were able to find those dates. I have searched for dates as well and found info online. I write that stuff down and then hope to remember where I wrote it.
ReplyDeleteYou get information and then it twigs something else that you want to find.
DeleteSo glad you found the info on your sister. Now you should make good notes for the next generation!
ReplyDeleteA family history is really what's needed.
DeleteGetting help always helps when you're looking for something.
ReplyDeleteThis find was a surprise. He didn't know he had this information.
DeleteIt took me and then my daughter thirty years to find my grandmother's birth..she died when dad was 5...but that has unlocked many cousins.
ReplyDeleteGenealogy is fascinating, the more you know, the more you want to know, especially when you can add detail to bare facts
Your last sentence is key. The more information we have the more questions that arise.
DeleteWell, if there is something else you need to know, you know that you have good help available.
ReplyDeleteGood luck goes a long way.
DeleteI've been fascinated by geneaology since first encountering it with my family at the age of 13. Reading about some of my illustrious ancestors, I got quite impressed with myself and my family. Until I learned that my last name (Taylor) was about the 6th most common in the United States. Ho-hum. Or as is expressed nowadays: meh.
ReplyDeleteThat name just makes the search much harder. There are stringent guide lines for insuring that information is accurate.
DeleteI am glad you were able to find out the two dates. I have done family history research and I find things that I wish I didn't know. Half my family came over in the 1800's but the other half were early colonists and fought in many wars.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole it's interesting to find family history. We have some rogues . They make things interesting.
ReplyDeleteWow! How great that people were able to pitch right in and help you out!
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, doesn't every family have some rogues?
I know the year in which my parents died (1971) but I have never felt it necessary to remember the dates.
ReplyDeletefor Anon read Weaver)
ReplyDeleteI guess being a genealogist, I usually record the death date into my family tree within a day or two of death. It is just habit. For those who died before I became one, I can almost always find it using one of the previously used methods. Probably the one I rely on the most is by finding death notices listed in local newspapers. So many of them are online these days with a paid subscription which is part of my Ancestry.com subscription.
ReplyDeleteRed, I wish I could answer your last question. If I could do that, I would be one of these Online Consultants making big money answering questions, or, more likely, just doing their version of guessing. I seem to ask myself your last question, in one form or another, almost every day. Life continues to be a challenge. Another interesting post!
ReplyDelete