Reading obituaries is an activity in which we all participate but seldom speak about. When we reach a “certain age,” we may peruse the obituary section daily. When we are confronted with the tragedy of a young person’s passing, our first inclination is to find their obituary.
The history of obituaries begins in ancient Rome and started as simple death notices. Obituaries are now a tribute to those that have passed. As humans, we are drawn to reading them.
Despite the vastness of the Internet, the best place to find the obituary of a loved one, friend, or long-lost acquaintance, is to search locally. When looking for an obituary of someone that has passed in or near Colchester, the most effective way to search is through local newspapers and funeral homes.
The Aurora-McCarthy Funeral Home has past and present obituaries of those that have used their services. Their website allows one to search quite easily.
If a deceased person has passed recently, then the obituary can be found on the newspaper website directly using their search tool. Newspapers that are likely to carry an obituary of a past resident of Colchester can search various newspapers such as:
- Rivereast (The Glastonbury Citizen)
- Hartford Courant
- Norwich Bulletin
- New London Day
If you are having difficulty finding an obituary, or if you are looking for an obituary of someone that has passed long ago, you can find assistance at the Cragin Library, Colchester’s local library.
Kate Byroade, Director of Cragin Library, explained that the Historical Hartford Courant is a database that Cragin Library subscribes to and has obituaries dating back to the 1920s.
If you have a library card, which only me takes only five minutes to obtain!) you can access this immense database. Any library staff member would be happy to assist those looking for obituaries or answer other genealogy resource questions. Finally, if local sources aren’t available, the website www.legacy.com has obituaries archived from local newspapers, so if an obituary was written in a newspaper, it is likely this website will have it.