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24-465: The Ryerson Index is an online index of death notices from Australian newspapers, past and present, compiled by the Sydney -based charity Ryerson Index Incorporated. The index database has in excess of 9 million records compiled from more than 470 newspapers and other sources across Australia. Obituaries , funeral notices and probate notices are also included. Indexing uses the crowdsourcing model, and

48-399: A coffin strapped into an arbitrary or a combination unit (mac pac / airtray). This is common when it is to be buried in a different locality than where the person died. When a body is brought to a funeral home, it is sometimes embalmed to delay decomposition or to make the viewing of the body more pleasant. The procedure typically involves removing sufficient blood material to accommodate

72-537: A "sleepy corner of journalism", publications in the Internet age have invested more resources in preparing advance obituaries for rapid publication online, in order to meet widespread public interest; obituaries can attract millions of readers online within days of their subjects' deaths. The New York Times maintains a "deep reservoir" of advance obituaries, estimated to stand at roughly 1,850 as of 2021 . The paper often interviews notables specifically for their obituaries,

96-495: A common theme, such as military obituaries, sports obituaries, heroes and adventurers, entertainers, rogues, eccentric lives, etc. The British Medical Journal encourages doctors to write their own obituaries for publication after their death. For numerous summer seasons, CBC Radio One has run The Late Show , a radio documentary series which presents extended obituaries of interesting Canadians . Funeral home Funeral homes arrange services in accordance with

120-924: A general rule, when lives are long enough, accomplished enough and complex enough that we would just as soon not get caught short writing them on deadline, advances are assigned". Consequently, many public figures who die unexpectedly or prematurely will have no obituary available at a given publication, and journalists will be left to research and write lengthy articles on short notice. However, Farhi noted that advance obituaries of younger people will occasionally be prepared if they are known to have health problems or "chaotic lives"; The Washington Post had an advance obituary for singer Amy Winehouse , whose struggles with substance abuse were widely chronicled before her death at age 27. In another case, Nigel Farndale , an obituaries editor for The Times , said that in April 2020, when news broke that then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

144-431: A paid memorial advertisement , is usually written by family members or friends, perhaps with assistance from a funeral home . Both types of paid advertisements are usually run as classified advertisements. The word also applies to the entire program and the part of that program describing the life of the deceased. It is given to those who attend their service. The verso page heading may be Obituary or Reflections ,

168-516: A particular organization, group or field, which may only contain the sparsest details, or small obituaries. Historical necrologies can be important sources of information. Two types of paid advertisements are related to obituaries. One, known as a death notice , usually appears in the Births, Marriages and Deaths (BMD) section of a paper and omits most biographical details and may be a legally required public notice under some circumstances. The other type,

192-522: A particularly large jury verdict in Mississippi , which was later found to be in error, as the allegations against Loewen Group proved false. The Canadian -based company then brought suit against the United States alleging violations under NAFTA . Houston based Service Corporation International has also had its share of legal troubles in its operations of both funeral homes and cemeteries. In 2009,

216-513: A practice begun by Alden Whitman in 1966. As of 2021 , The Washington Post has about 900 advance obituaries on file, and entertainment publication The Hollywood Reporter has prepared 800 advances for notable figures in the film and television industry. An advance obituary is usually not written until the subject has reached old age, as the earlier a profile is written, the more additions and revisions it will likely require. Former New York Times obituary writer Margalit Fox wrote that "as

240-467: A reliable source (such as a funeral home ), though even this has not stopped some pranksters such as Alan Abel . Many news organizations maintain prewritten (or preedited video) obituaries on file for notable individuals who are still living, in order to promptly publish detailed, authoritative, and lengthy obituaries upon their deaths. These are also known as "advance" obituaries. The Los Angeles Times ' obituary of Elizabeth Taylor , for example,

264-456: A viewing (sometimes referred to as a visitation), a funeral service in a place of worship or the funeral home chapel and a graveside committal service. Direct cremation consists of the funeral home receiving the body, preparing it for the crematory and filing the necessary legal paperwork. Direct/immediate burial is the forgoing of a funeral ceremony for a prompt, simple burial. Moving a body between mortuaries involves preparing it for shipment in

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288-504: Is continuously updated by volunteers over the internet. The idea of an index was first suggested by John Graham, convenor of the Sydney Dead Persons Society, in 1998. The concept gained momentum the following year when another member of the society, Joyce Ryerson, revealed that she had a 14-year collection of death notices from The Sydney Morning Herald kept in her laundry. A team of volunteers worked three years to compile

312-619: Is not possible, or the family wishes, the funeral home can perform a "closed casket" service. The funeral home often sets aside one or more large areas for people to gather at a visitation. This area may contain a space to display the body in a casket to visitors who may pay their respects. Funeral and memorial services may also take place at the funeral home. Many funeral homes offer prearrangement options for those who wish to plan their own funerals. Several large multi-national corporations in this service field have received exposure from high-profile litigation. The Loewen Group , Inc., received

336-590: The Index is used by both genealogists and non-genealogists all over Australia and countries worldwide. It has just (2023) celebrated its 25th anniversary as a website, with three of the founding members (President John Graham, Secretary Pauline Kettle and Committee Member Peter Kettle) still heavily involved. Death notice An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles . Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of

360-408: The index from this initial material. Following this, additional records from other newspapers were added, and by 2005, there were one million entries. The Ryerson Index was named in honor of Joyce Ryerson's invaluable contributions; she died on 30 August 2012. The intention of the index is to help researchers locate notices in original published sources rather than act as a primary source . Currently,

384-407: The preservative chemicals and dyes, aspirating the internal organs and setting the facial features. Cosmetics are used with the consent of the family to improve the appearance of face and hands for a more natural look. If the face or hands are disfigured by accident, illness or decomposition, the embalmer may utilize restorative techniques to make them presentable for an "open casket" service. If this

408-589: The recto heading is usually Order of Service . A premature obituary is a false reporting of the death of a person who is still alive. It may occur due to unexpected survival of someone who was close to death. Other reasons for such publication might be miscommunication between newspapers, family members, and the funeral home , often resulting in embarrassment for everyone involved. In November 2020, Radio France Internationale accidentally published about 100 prewritten obituaries for celebrities such as Queen Elizabeth II and Clint Eastwood . The premature publication

432-465: The subject's life, this is not always the case. According to Nigel Farndale , the Obituaries Editor of The Times , obituaries ought to be "balanced accounts" written in a "deadpan" style, and should not read like a hagiography . In local newspapers, an obituary may be published for any local resident upon death. A necrology is a register or list of records of the deaths of people related to

456-775: The wishes of surviving friends and family, whether immediate next of kin or an executor so named in a legal will. The funeral home often takes care of the necessary paperwork, permits, and other details, such as making arrangements with the cemetery , and providing obituaries to the news media. The funeral business has a history that dates to the age of the Egyptians who mastered the science of preservation. In recent years many funeral homes have started posting obituaries online and use materials submitted by families to create memorial websites. There are certain common types of services in North America . A traditional funeral service consists of

480-467: The years than any piece we've ever run". Work on it began in 1959, and it went through many subsequent iterations. Well into the 21st century, the visual layout for the obituary was substantially modified to match changes in the paper's page size, and a presentation for its digital edition cycled through different slideshow and video formats to match advances in Internet download speeds. The newspaper began drafting an obituary for Queen Elizabeth II when she

504-445: Was blamed on a transition to a new content management system . Irish author Brendan Behan said, "there is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary." In this regard, some people seek to have an unsuspecting newspaper editor publish a premature death notice or obituary as a malicious hoax, perhaps to gain revenge on the "deceased". To that end, nearly all newspapers now have policies requiring that death notices come from

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528-515: Was in an intensive care unit with COVID-19 during the pandemic , he was under considerable pressure to quickly prepare an obituary that could be immediately published if Johnson died from the disease. Still, for particularly major figures, advance obituaries may be drafted early in their lives and revised constantly throughout the following years or decades. Bill McDonald , obituaries editor of The New York Times , estimated in 2016 that Fidel Castro 's obituary "cost us more man/woman hours over

552-500: Was still heir apparent , and it was rewritten in its entirety multiple times until her death in 2022. Obituaries are a notable feature of The Economist , which publishes one full-page obituary per week, reflecting on the subject's life and influence on world history. Past subjects have ranged from Ray Charles to Uday Hussein to George Floyd . The Times and the Daily Telegraph publish anthologies of obituaries under

576-513: Was written in 1999 after three months of research, then often updated before the actress' 2011 death. Quite often the prewritten obituary's subject outlives its author. One example is The New York Times ' obituary of Taylor, written by the newspaper's theater critic Mel Gussow , who died in 2005. The 2023 obituary of Henry Kissinger featured reporting by Michael T. Kaufman , who died almost 14 years earlier in 2010. Writing in 2021, Paul Farhi of The Washington Post observed that while once

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