Obituaries are published as paid annoucements. To place an obituary, we require the following:
• The obituary itself. The most efficient way to get an obituary to us is to email it. While we can accept obituaries in text or Microsoft Word format, we prefer that you simply paste the text into the body of an email. We edit obituaries for clarity, errors of fact and misspellings. We reserve the right to refuse to publish an obituary.
• A photograph, if you would like one. The most efficient way to send us a photograph is to attach it to the same email that contains your obituary. Photos should clearly show the face of the subject. You should make your photograph in the JPEG format, at at least 200 dpi resolution, and ensure the subject's face is at least one inch wide. Generally speaking, a photograph taken with a digital camera, or scanned at a commercial photo processing center, will meet our technical needs. When in doubt, it's best to send too large a photograph, rather than too small. All obituary photos are published in black and white.
• If the deceased was a service member, we can include a small U.S. flag in your obituary. Indicate in your email if you would like us to include the flag.
• A credit card. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. The best way to provide your credit card information is to include the name and telephone number of a person who will pay for the obituary in the same email that contains your obituary. Please do not email your credit card information, as such communications are not secure. We can provide you with an estimate of the cost for your obituary at the time we call for payment, but the final charge will be posted to your card either on the day your obituary appears or, if it appears on the weekend day or a holiday, the first business day thereafter. We can notify you via reply email of the final charge for your obituary, if you request, and we can mail you a paper receipt, if you request one.
• The name and phone number of the mortuary service that is handling your arrangements. We need this in order to verify the death. Again, the most efficient way to get this information to us is to include it with your emailed obituary.
We can process obituaries received via mail, fax or dropped off at our offices, but there is usually a delay in processing such announcements, as they require additional effort to prepare for publication.
Obituaries received, paid and confirmed by 4 p.m. are usually published in the next day's edition.
An obituary should contain the following information, generally in this order:
• The name of the deceased as you would like it to appear. Nicknames should appear in quotes. Maiden names should appear in parentheses. For example, Jane J. "Janie" (Smith) Jones; John X. Smith Sr.
• The age of the deceased, town of residence and date of death.
• Whatever biographical information you would like to include. Most obituaries talk about the deceased's date and town of birth, education, work history, hobbies / interests, special talents, significant achievements, etc.
• The names of those who predeceased the person, if applicable. Generally speaking, you should start with parents, then immediate family members, then extended family members. Provide towns and states of residence for those named.
• The names of survivors. Generally speaking, you should start with parents, then immediate family members, then extended family members. Provide towns and states of residence for those named.
• Specifics about visitation, services, receptions and / or interment, in that order.
• Any special instructions about memorial donations, flowers or the like.
We publish death notices as a free service. These notices contain the name, age, town and date of death only. In order to place a death notice, we need the name and telephone number of the mortuary service handling your arrangements, so we can confirm the death. The name of the mortuary service will be included with the death notice. We reserve the right to refuse to publish a death notice.
Our obituary email address is
kjobits@mainetoday.com.
