Obituary sticker shock

asp3

asp3

Senior Member
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
My mother passed away the Friday after Thanksgiving and I have been tasked with putting the obituary in three papers, one where she and my father lived (and he still lives) and two from a city and town in their home state.

I wrote up a basic one with just a little information, talked to my dad to find out what he wanted included and then passed it on to my sister (who has co-written two books) who fleshed it out quite a bit. It ended up being almost 700 words.

I went to the newspaper site where they live and submitted it with a single black and white photo. When it came to check out it turned out it would cost over 2 grand for run for just one day.

Their cheapest option is $300 for no photo and just 64 words. Their next cheapest is $450 for a photo and 64 words. And by the way the 64 words isn't guaranteed. When one uses longer words like university, grandmother and technologist they take up more space and it's more about lines of text than number of words. So we chopped it down to the 64 words we thought best captured her and did that with a photo.

The city where my dad lives is a major US city whereas the others are a smaller city and a rather small town so I'll see what the costs are there.
 

Oh, tell me about it! My mom's obituaries last week cost $165 and $460 in two papers, one that publishes six times a week and the other one a weekly. They left a name out on one and the other one has yet to appear, even though it was in on time for the weekly paper. They think they "might" be able to get it in next week. They don't seem interested in finding out what the problem is....ho-hum, ho-hum.

There is no pride in doing a good job any more, apparently.

I'm sorry for your loss, Asp. It's a rough time of the year for bereavement....not that any time of the year is good.....
 
Jules said:
It truly is sticker shock. Do they post it online for that price too? Nowadays, it seems like that’s where most people see it.
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For the paper where my dad lives all the obituaries post in the physical paper and their online version. It also includes a $50 charge for putting it on legacy.com. For some reason I got a $75 discount so it was worth it to have it on legacy.
 
asp - sorry for your loss.

We too, were shocked at what a Newspaper quoted us for a Obituary for our son, Jeffrey, when he passed last year. It was like ~$800 and could have gone well into 4 figures.

I think newspapers take advantage of folks - or at least it sure felt like it to us.

Prayers of comfort for you and the family during this hard time sir.

gamboolman & ms gamboolgal....
 
Sorry for your loss. I know about the price thing. When my husband died last year, I put his obituary in the online newspaper for the town we both grew up on...they do it for free. BUT, the local print paper for same town would have charged $250. Same for Rochester, NY, where we both lived at the time he died. I passed on that.
 
Sorry for your loss.

I do not want an obituary.

We are being cremated, then ashes put in a container, like they use at the bank, and shot into a vault underground. A small plaque on a wall. It was the cheapest possible. Everything pre paid except taxes and hopefully someone still alive to pay the fifty or so bucks.
 
@asp3 My sincere condolences on the passing of your mother. Losing a parent has got to be one of the hardest things to overcome. I know it was for me.

It's difficult enough to deal with, without then being price-gouged for an obituary.

 
I thought obituaries were free, as a form of community information until a few years ago.
I am disheartened that everything cost money in America-
there is no charge for dying, if your a hermit.
 
I was just going to be updating my daughter on stuff like that, hadn’t thought about the cost in many years. Don’t want them to spend a lot on any of it.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your loss, Asp3.

When my husband died 10 years ago, we put an obituary in the Washington Post, and I can't for the life of me remember what it cost. I don't think it was enormously expensive, though. I do remember they charged more if you wanted a picture.

I don't think newspapers should charge anything for obituaries. They should provide it as a service. But if people want those special memorial notices, I guess they're right to charge for that.
 
asp3 said:
My mother passed away the Friday after Thanksgiving and I have been tasked with putting the obituary in three papers, one where she and my father lived (and he still lives) and two from a city and town in their home state.

I wrote up a basic one with just a little information, talked to my dad to find out what he wanted included and then passed it on to my sister (who has co-written two books) who fleshed it out quite a bit. It ended up being almost 700 words.

I went to the newspaper site where they live and submitted it with a single black and white photo. When it came to check out it turned out it would cost over 2 grand for run for just one day.

Their cheapest option is $300 for no photo and just 64 words. Their next cheapest is $450 for a photo and 64 words. And by the way the 64 words isn't guaranteed. When one uses longer words like university, grandmother and technologist they take up more space and it's more about lines of text than number of words. So we chopped it down to the 64 words we thought best captured her and did that with a photo.

The city where my dad lives is a major US city whereas the others are a smaller city and a rather small town so I'll see what the costs are there.
Click to expand...
Which is exactly why I and several of my friends have informed our families to save their money and forgo the obits for us. No way.
 
Asp, so very sorry about your Mom and my heart goes out to your father as well💕
The funeral costs are beyond my comprehension and nothing bothers me more than knowing I have to pay an enormous...or any sum of money...just to leave this world. That thought just doesn’t compute in my brain.
 
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