Looking for an obituary from a Kalamazoo newspaper? KPL’s local history staff can help. Here is what you need to know:
- Requests can be made through the website or by mail to Kalamazoo Public Library, Local History Room, 315 S. Rose Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49007.
- We have copies of the Kalamazoo Gazette on microfilm going back to 1834 with a gap in the collection during the Civil War years from 1862-1870. Obituaries and death stories have been indexed for most years, however there is a gap in our indexing from 1890 to 1938. You may use the index to determine the exact citation for the obituary or provide us with the full name of the person you are looking for and the approximate death year and we will do the search for you.
- If the person died outside of Kalamazoo County during years not covered by our Kalamazoo Gazette index, meaning that we cannot find a death date using the Kalamazoo County death records, you will need to send an exact date of death before we can perform a search.
- We will search the Kalamazoo Gazette for five days from the date of death.
- You will be informed whether or not we are able to locate the obituary.
- There is a $1.00 charge for each obituary and no charge if we are unable to find anything.
- Requests of five or more obituaries will require pre-payment.
- You may choose to receive the obituary by mail or as an email attachment (pdf or jpg).
Request an obituary