No stranger to liaising with the bereaved, the EDP's specialist reporter Donna-Louise Bishop deals with death on a daily basis. For this week's Saturday essay, she takes a look at why obituaries can be a fitting way to pay tribute to a loved one.
For more than 250 years now, newspapers have published obituaries.
More than a simple death notice, these unique articles fulfil an important role in both local communities and the wider society.
And despite a decline in print newspaper circulation during the past two decades, the familiar format of the obituary remains.
Whether they appear as traditional articles online or tribute posts on social media, a dedication to a loved one remains a popular society staple as individuals continue to be fascinated by the lives of others and their own morality.
The rise of the obituary
Many of us know that one person who always flips to the obituaries section in the newspaper first, or indeed on a news outlet’s website.
Maybe it is just as simple as being curious about the lives of others, or perhaps it is the need to see if they recognise former school friends, neighbours or colleagues. Whatever the reason is, they are certainly not alone.
There is something about an obituary that encompasses a collective mourning process, more so than a death notice.
And it is not just the famous and familiar that hit the headlines, but some of the most widely-read pieces, at least the ones which have appeared in this paper, are of well-known faces in the community – farmers, school teachers, barbers, posties and even a beloved grandmother who visited her local high street every day.
But how did this leap from a simple notice announcing someone’s death turn into something rather special and heartfelt?
The history
Although the beginnings of the obituaries as we know them today were first published during the late 1750s, they did not become prevalent in the press until the early 1800s.
Before this, there is evidence that they had been published in ancient Rome around 59 BCE. on papyrus newspapers called Acta Diurna, translated as “Daily Events”, but even these were more like a death notice.
By the mid-19th century, newspapers were regularly publishing death notices but these would be submitted by local funeral homes. It was hardly surprising that these were kept brief, as at this time every printed letter had to be set by hand until the invention of the Linotype machine. Basically, newspapers were slim and obituaries brief.
The evolution
We know that obituaries evolved from death notices, but there have been other aspects to them over time as well.
High death numbers of babies and infants during the Victorian era, often saw brief verses of poetry included with them.
As more newspapers gave column space to obituaries, they also served as a place for public expressions of mourning or function as quasi-legal documents, serving to notify creditors who might want to file a claim against a deceased's estate.
During the turn of the 20th century, with the automation of typesetting, newspapers expanded which meant more space could be dedicated to death notices and obituaries.
It was during the 1930s and 1940s that the modern obituary template began to take shape, adhering to a familiar four-part structure consisting of the death announcement, a short biography, a section outlining who survived the deceased and funeral information.
Not only have they become a place for individuals to pay tribute but they also leave a lasting legacy for genealogists and individuals researching family history – a hobby increasingly on the rise.
Memorable obituaries
A tried and tested format, the standard style for an obituary remained fairly unchanged throughout the second half of the 20th century.
But in 2001, following the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, the opportunity to experiment with the format changed the narrative.
During the months that followed, The New York Times published short narrative obituaries on each of the almost 3,000 people killed that day. With everyone being recognised as an individual rather than a group united by devastation, it became apparent that a person’s life could be remembered by even a short biography.
And despite the transition from a small notice to a complete life story, the content of an obituary remains at the heart of its impact, as shown by the example of a Californian woman named Karen.
Karen Ann Sydow died on September 5 at the age of 61. Her brother, Erik Sydow, sketched out a written tribute sharing the story of a woman who “never had wants or misgivings”. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy, she could speak only three words: “Mom,” “Piano” and “Donalds”, a reference to her favourite eatery, McDonalds.
It was a 189-word obituary titled “A Special Sister” and its brevity belied its weight.
It would go on to receive tens of thousands of views online and become the focus of a series of articles by journalists.
Why are they important?
Following a call for more transparency regarding issues such as race, sexuality and mental health, there has been a trend towards more open and honest tributes.
The bereaved have become more willing to open up the narrative on topics such as suicide, paying tribute to their loved ones while raising awareness of important issues.
For some, it has also become a cathartic process for families resulting in a unique, sometimes bittersweet, keepsake that many claim they will “treasure forever”.
An obituary may be a news report of a death, but it also offers a snapshot summary of what people want to remember about life.
English writer and author, Virginia Woolf, summed it up best with this quote: “I meant to write about death, only life came breaking in as usual.”
- To pay tribute to a loved one, email norfolktributes@archant.co.uk
-
To read more obituaries and tributes join the Facebook group Norfolk's Loved & Lost.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here