Free Service
The Santa Clara County Library District provides a free, three per month, obituary/death notice search request service. We perform searches only for persons whose obituary appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, or in the local community newspaper for Santa Clara County. Our access to the San Jose Mercury News is from 1886-1922 and from 1984 to present.
You may complete the Obituary Search Request Form (below) to submit your request.
- All requests are fulfilled on a first come, first served basis.
- Obituaries are published no earlier than 1 week after a person's passing. Please wait at least 1 week after a person's passing before requesting obituary search assistance.
- Please allow 2-4 weeks for us to respond to your request.
- We cannot guarantee that we will find the information you request.
Helpful Hints:
- Please review our newspaper holdings page for specific newspaper titles and dates available to us before submitting your request.
- To expedite your search, please provide the date of death when requesting this service. You can verify the name and the date of death using California Death Records (1940 – 1997), opens a new window and/or the Social Security Death Index, opens a new window (these links go to Ancestry.com which is available in-library only unless you have a paid personal account with them).
For additional useful resources for obituary search assistance, including fee-based services, visit Obituary Research in the Bay Area & Silicon Valley.
Obituary Search Assistance
Please include the first and last name of the deceased and the date of death at minimum."*" indicates required fields
