Losing someone is heavy. It's a weight that doesn't really go away, and for many families in the Greensboro area, the first step toward finding some kind of closure is seeing a name in print. People often think that in the digital age, a local newspaper notice is just an expensive formality. They're wrong. When you search for news & record obituaries, you aren't just looking for a date of death or a list of surviving cousins. You’re looking for a permanent record of a life lived in the Piedmont Triad. It’s a North Carolina tradition that’s survived the death of "print is king," and honestly, it’s one of the few things we have left that feels genuinely local.
Finding these records can be a bit of a headache if you don't know where to click. The Greensboro News & Record has been around since the late 1800s, though it didn't take that specific name until the morning and afternoon papers merged back in the 80s. Because of that long history, the way you find an obituary from 1954 is totally different from how you find one from last Tuesday.
The Digital Shift in News & Record Obituaries
Most people start their search on the official website. It makes sense. But here is the thing: the News & Record uses Legacy.com to host its modern death notices. If you go to the site looking for a friend who passed away yesterday, you're essentially being redirected to a massive national database. It works well for leaving "candles" or digital messages, but it can feel a little disconnected from the community.
Why does this matter? Well, for one, the cost.
Placing a notice isn't cheap. Families often have to choose between a "long-form" obituary that tells a story—mentioning the deceased’s love for the UNC Tar Heels or their 40-year career at Cone Mills—and a "short-form" notice that basically just lists the funeral time. When you're searching, you have to realize that the absence of a long story doesn't mean the person didn't have one. It usually just means the family was trying to manage the high cost of print lineage.
Where the Archive Lives
If you’re doing genealogy, the modern website is basically useless. For anything older than about 2001, you have to pivot. The Greensboro Public Library is the real MVP here. They maintain the North Carolina Collection, which includes microfilm of the Greensboro Daily News and the Greensboro Record.
You can't just Google your way into 1972.
You actually have to look at the "Greensboro News & Record Index." This is a physical or digital database created by librarians who spent decades manually indexing names. If you find a name there, you get a date and a page number. Then, you load the microfilm. There is something strangely personal about scrolling through those old black-and-white pages, seeing the advertisements for Belk or Thalhimers right next to the person you're looking for. It places them in their own time.
Why Accuracy in These Records is a Moving Target
Let's be real: obituaries are "first drafts" of history. They are written by grieving family members at 2:00 AM while they’re trying to remember if Great Aunt Linda spelled her name with a 'y' or an 'i'. Because of this, news & record obituaries are sometimes riddled with small errors.
I’ve seen records where birth years are off by a decade. I’ve seen surviving children completely omitted because of family feuds. If you are using these for legal reasons or serious family trees, you have to cross-reference. Don't take the newspaper's word as gospel. Check the North Carolina State Archives or the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).
- Check the name spelling variations.
- Look at the date of the paper—usually, an obit runs 2-4 days after the passing.
- Search for nicknames. Sometimes a "William" is only listed as "Bill."
- Verify the cemetery location.
The paper also used to run "Death Notices" separately from "Obituaries." The notices were free or cheap and just gave the bare facts. The obituaries were the paid tributes. If you can't find a full story, look for the tiny text in the "Briefs" section of the old papers.
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The Role of the Greensboro Community
The News & Record has gone through a lot of changes. It’s owned by Lee Enterprises now, and like many local papers, the staff is smaller than it used to be. This has changed the "flavor" of local reporting, but the obituary section remains the most-read part of the paper. It’s the community's bulletin board.
In Greensboro, the obituaries often reflect the city's industrial past. You’ll see mentions of P. Lorillard, Burlington Industries, and the various textile giants that built this town. For many, the obituary is the final recognition of a life spent working in those mills. It’s a piece of social history that tells us how the city has shifted from manufacturing to healthcare and education.
How to Effectively Search Today
If you're looking for a recent record, don't just search the name. Search the name plus "Greensboro."
Sometimes the news & record obituaries don't show up in the top three results because of how Google indexes Legacy.com's subdomains. You might find a mirror version on a funeral home's website first. Funeral home sites like Forbis & Dick or Hanes-Lineberry often post the full text for free before it even hits the paper. If you’re trying to avoid the paywall on the News & Record site, the funeral home website is your best friend. They usually keep those pages up indefinitely, whereas the newspaper archive might eventually require a subscription or a trip to the library.
Dealing with the Paywall
It’s frustrating. You want to read about a friend, and a pop-up asks for $1.99.
Here is a tip: many local libraries offer "NewsBank" access. If you have a library card in Guilford County, you can log in to the library portal from your couch and search the full text of the News & Record for free. This includes the obituaries. It's a clean, text-only version, so you won't see the photos, but you get every word of the tribute without hitting a paywall.
Actionable Steps for Finding and Preserving Records
Searching for a record is only half the battle. If you've found what you're looking for, you need to make sure it doesn't vanish. Digital links break. Websites get sold.
- Download the PDF: If you're using a library database, don't just "print to paper." Save the digital PDF.
- Screenshot the Legacy page: These pages sometimes "expire" or the guestbook gets locked after a year unless someone pays an annual fee. Capture the comments and the photos now.
- Check the High Point Enterprise: If the person lived on the edge of the county, their record might be in the Enterprise instead of the News & Record.
- Use Find A Grave: Once you have the info from the obituary, check FindAGrave.com. Often, volunteers have linked the newspaper text to a photo of the actual headstone in Greensboro’s Green Hill Cemetery or Forest Lawn.
If you are the one writing the obituary for the News & Record, keep it simple but specific. Mention the small things. People don't remember the job titles as much as they remember the person's famous pound cake recipe or their habit of sitting on the porch every Friday night. Those are the details that make the record worth finding fifty years from now.
To get started with your search right now, head to the Greensboro Public Library’s digital portal if you have your card number ready. If not, start with the funeral home websites in the Greensboro area; they are the most direct, free path to recent information. For older records, your best bet is a physical visit to the Central Branch on North Church Street, where the microfilm machines still hold the only copies of the stories that haven't been digitized yet.