Death Notice Index

The Death Notice Index is a database listing the dates of death notices that have appeared in the Tulsa World and Tulsa Tribune. Death notices are posted by the funeral home and contain references to the date of death and the date and location of funeral services. Obituaries are provided and purchased by the family and, though they vary in length, can provide biographical data and information on the survivors of the deceased. Because not every family purchased an obituary, this database, in general, indexes death notices only. The Central Library has both the Tulsa World and Tulsa Tribune on microfilm in the Research Center on the 3rd floor. Copies or scans can be made from the microfilm.

The Death Notice Index contains the name of the person and the date the death notice appeared in the newspaper, covering the years 1963-1990 in the Tulsa World and 1964-1990 in the Tulsa Tribune.

Sometimes, the name you are searching is not listed. It may help to try a different spelling of the person's last name. There are many different ways to spell certain names, such as Lewis, Louis, Luis, or Stevens, Stephens, or Elliott, Elliot, Eliott, Eliot. If you are uncertain of the spelling of a last name, put the first few letters of a last name, such as "She", which will bring up names from Shea to Shewmaker.

Occasionally, there are articles about deaths and the death notices do not appear in the newspapers. In those cases, the dates and/or page numbers of the articles appear in the index.

For death notices from 1989 to the present, library customers with a valid library card can search the Tulsa World online via a library subscription service either at their neighborhood library or with through their own Internet connection.

For more information on obituaries, death notices, and newspaper articles, please visit the local history subject guide.