If you are researching obituaries in the Bay Area or Silicon Valley, there are a variety of selected resources at Santa Clara County Library District and on the web. Explore these additional useful resources for obituary research from other libraries and services on the web, or request help from our librarians.
Obituary Search Assistance from Santa Clara County Library District.
Additional Libraries
- California State Library
Using your local library’s Interlibrary Loan service, order microfilm of the San Jose Mercury and other California newspapers (some back to 1850) for the date needed from the California State Library, P.O. Box 942837, Sacramento, CA 94237-0001. - Mountain View Obituary Database
An online index to the obituaries found in the Mountain View History Center collection. Most obituaries appeared in local newspapers from 1967 to 2004. - Palo Alto Historical Association Index to Newspaper Obituaries 1890 to present
This index allows you to search for citations to articles and obituaries from the Palo Alto Weekly, the Palo Alto Daily News, and other local newspapers. - San Francisco Public Library
Offers a free, three per month, obituary search requests for persons whose obituary appeared in San Francisco newspapers.
Index of Published Obituaries
- Obituary Daily Times: search the growing index of published obituaries. The database has entries that give information about obituaries that appeared in publications around the world. Refer to the list of publications for publication abbreviation.
Fee-Based Service
- Santa Clara County Historical & Genealogical Society (SCCHGS)
SCCHGS is as a nonprofit educational organization that makes available research consultants that can assist in locating an obituary for a fee. Send in your request via email to research@scchgs.org, or write to the Santa Clara County Historical & Genealogical Society, c/o Santa Clara City Library, 2635 Homestead Road, Santa Clara, CA 95051, Attention: Research Consultant; include a self-addressed stamped envelope. The Society recommends that requestors fill out the application at https://scchgs.org/forms-research/research-form.html.
Commercial Sites for Obituaries and Death Notices
- ObitsArchive.com, opens a new window
You may search for someone in several newspapers simultaneously. Searching is free, but there is a fee (single article: $2.95; or monthly subscription: 100 articles every 30 days: $19.95) for viewing the obituary. - Legacy.com Obitfinder
Searches about 200 U.S. newspapers and the Social Security Death index starting as early as February 2001. Searching is free, but there is a fee (single article: $2.95) for viewing the obituary.
Other
- Santa Clara County, California, Obituaries
Provides links to free and fee-based obituary search assistance resources.
