Why do obituaries give the cause of death? Seems morbid to me.

Well, if you KNEW the person and hadn’t seen them in a while, you may be curious. Unless the person was incredibly old, I’d want to know how they died. If a high school friend of mine died, they’d be under 45, and still fairly young to die. I’d want to know what happened.

I agree with what @keobooks said. I’d feel the same.

If I googled someone I hadn’t seen in a while, and I maybe had no intention of getting in touch with their relatives, I’d be curious as to what happened.

I wish my newspaper provided the cause of death. They only publish what the family sends to them.

I agree with @keobooks and @jca

I’d also like to imagine that maybe some detective will come along and prove that someone was murdered, or use that to solve a murder. But, that’s just my over active imagination in use. Clearly I’ve been watching too many detective shows lol. :3

In the San Francisco Chronicle, it all depends on the family, except for famous people.

If the cause of death were more widely discussed, the public might finally break through the denial of what really causes people to die.

Take it from an old newspaperman, it’s simply in keeping with journalism’s basic 5 W’s: Who, What, When, Where and Why.

I think most newspapers will only publish it if the family releases the information. I know for both of my parents we provided the obituary. I do think that many people are curious about what the cause of death is, particularly for people they may know or young people.

I see nothing wrong or offensive in stating the cause of death, it is simple curiosity and, well, after all, we don’t just die without a cause. Just factual info. as @Pachy mentions.
“Fred Smith died instantly after passing beneath the wheels of a transit bus on Tuesday morning in the downtown district of Cleveland.”

@Coloma – that raises more questions than it answers.

Was it a city bus or a Greyhound?

Was he jaywalking? Was the driver at fault?

Why was Mr. Smith downtown on Tuesday morning when he was supposed to be at the hospital taking care of his wife?

And just where Downtown was he? Was he walking out of the house-of-ill-repute on 4th Avenue, or out of the bar on 22nd street?

They’re better off having the obit be basic and non-informational.

I agree with @Coloma. @elbanditoroso, people who read the obit may be curious for details but they are not necessary. “Mr. Smith was struck by a bus in Cleveland” or something of that nature would be sufficient. If people really needed more details, they could contact the family or google it. If someone is 90 years old, I assume they died from old age. If they’re my age, younger or less than 80, I would like to know if they got a disease, got into an accident, or something strange happened to them. I like to know and I appreciate when the detail is provided.

@elbanditoroso LMAO! I’d love to write obituaries, great fun.

Haha! @elbanditoroso its our natural detective skills! Perhaps the death of Mr. Smith was a murder! Just kidding… or am I? O_o O-o

“Mr Dill, known by the internet community as filmfann, had his neck suddenly snapped when Ms. Portman became overly excited, and squeezed her legs together.”

I’d be fine with details, as long as I wasn’t breaking any laws.

@filmfann – what a way to go….!

Mine will read:

Coloma was trampled to death in the barn under the influence of Happy Brownies last Saturday when she mistakenly forgot to give the horses their special grain BEFORE their evening hay.
She was found, face down, in a pile of horse shit, she died with her boots on.” lol

I rarely read obituaries unless it is a person I knew. Sometimes the cause of death is mentioned and other times it is not, I have no problem with it either way. Having the cause of death mentioned does eliminate curiosity as to what happened to the person.

@prairierose – I’m just the opposite. Obituaries are fascinating slices of real life,.

@elbanditoroso yeah lots of people think that way but I don’t.

Honestly, I think it may be a good idea to list cause of death so that people who knew the person (who may not have known what happened) can know the circumstances a bit better and prepare accordingly for the funereal or calling hours, if they wish to attend.

For example, if an obit had a person who was 75 or so, and he died “after a long battle with a chronic disease/cancer” then it sounds like the family may have known death was coming for a while and that they are grieving but are also thankful that he’s not suffering and is in a better place. That would be helpful to know if you were planning to go to his funeral/viewing and maybe wanted to make a nice card.

However, let’s say he was 75 and he “died suddenly in an automobile crash”, that’s a very different feel. It’s very possible that he could have been healthy and no one expects to die in a sudden crash like that. That’s a big emotional toll on a family who has had no time to prepare and is probably reeling in grief and worry for the future. Maybe knowing this, you could plan your sympathy card accordingly and send his widow a small but helpful gift, or if you knew her somewhat well, you could prepare her some a ready-to-freeze meal that may help her out in the future.

See, it helps to know the background info sometimes, even if it’s a little morbid.

I don’t see what’s “morbid” about an obituary saying someone died after a long illness. It’s not as if it says something like, “Kathy died a slow, painful death as colon cancer ate away at her innards, leaving her defecating into a bag attached to her abdomen and moaning in agony as she suffered in her hospital bed.”

^ I feel the same way. It’s not like it’s graphic. I can see why some people find it morbid because some people are really put off by death but I personally don’t find it disturbing.

Some obituaries are so fascinating. This one came to mind as this woman is from an era and a class that we don’t often hear intimate details about:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/us/rachel-mellon-heiress-known-for-garden-designs-is-dead-at-103.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A7%22%7D

Probably because people want to know.

@jca Thanks for that…what a wonderful life ey?