Buffalo is a city built on stories. If you’ve ever walked down Delaware Avenue or grabbed a beef on weck at a corner tavern, you know that lineage matters here. People stay. They grow roots. Because of that, the Buffalo News obituary archives aren’t just a list of names; they’re basically the definitive social map of Western New York spanning over a century.
Trying to find a specific record from 1984 or 1922 isn't always as simple as a quick Google search, though. You’ve likely hit a paywall or found a snippet that cuts off right before the "survived by" section. It's frustrating. Honestly, researching local history shouldn't feel like a chore, but the fragmentation of digital records makes it kinda tricky.
Why the Buffalo News Obituary Archives Matter So Much
Genealogy is a massive hobby now. But in Buffalo, it’s almost a competitive sport. We have such a distinct mix of Polish, Italian, Irish, and German heritage. When someone passes away in WNY, the obituary in the Buffalo News (or the old Buffalo Evening News) is often the only place where those specific maiden names or old-country village origins are recorded.
Local libraries, like the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library on Lafayette Square, are the real MVPs here. They keep the microfilm that fills the gaps digital databases miss. If you are looking for something before the mid-1990s, the digital "buffalonews.com" search is probably going to let you down. You have to go deeper.
The archives serve two main crowds. You have the people trying to settle an estate or handle legalities, and then you have the family historians. For the historians, an obituary is a goldmine. It tells you where they worked—maybe Bethlehem Steel or the Trico plant—and which parish they belonged to. In a city where "which parish are you from?" was the standard greeting for decades, those details are everything.
Navigating the Digital vs. Physical Split
Here is the thing: the internet didn't exist in 1950. Shocker, I know.
Most people assume that every Buffalo News obituary archives entry is just sitting there waiting to be clicked. It’s not. There is a "Digital Divide" around 1990.
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For anything from roughly 1998 to the present day, you can usually find records on sites like Legacy.com or the official Buffalo News website. They are indexed. They are searchable by name. They are easy.
But if you’re looking for Great-Aunt Mary who passed in 1965? You’re entering the world of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and microfilm. OCR is basically a computer "reading" an old newspaper scan. It's not perfect. It makes mistakes. A "Burns" might look like "Bums" to a computer. This is why your searches sometimes come up empty even when you know the person lived in Cheektowaga their whole life.
Real Resources to Check
- The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library System: They have the Grosvenor Room. This is the holy grail for WNY history. They have the "Local History File," which is a literal card catalog of Buffalo News clippings.
- Newspapers.com: A paid service, but they have a massive run of the Buffalo Evening News. It’s often much easier to navigate than the native newspaper site because their search engine is built specifically for old fonts.
- FamilySearch: It’s free. They have some indexed records for Erie County that can point you to the right date in the Buffalo News archives.
The "Buffalo Evening News" vs. "The Buffalo Courier-Express"
Don't make the mistake of only looking for "The Buffalo News."
Until 1982, Buffalo was a two-paper town. You had the Buffalo Evening News (which became the current paper) and the Buffalo Courier-Express. If you can't find an obit in the Buffalo News obituary archives, it’s very possible the family published it in the Courier-Express instead.
The Courier-Express was the morning paper. It folded in September of 1982. If your ancestor was a staunch Democrat or liked a different style of reporting, they might have preferred the Courier. The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library also holds those archives. If you hit a wall in one, pivot to the other.
Dealing with Paywalls and Access
Let's be real—the Buffalo News, like most modern newspapers, has to make money. Their archive search often requires a subscription. If you’re just looking for one name, paying for a full month feels steep.
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Pro tip: Use your library card. Many libraries in the Buffalo system provide "remote access" to databases like ProQuest or NewsBank. You can sit on your couch in North Tonawanda or Orchard Park, log in with your library barcode, and search the Buffalo News obituary archives for free. It saves you twenty bucks and a lot of headache.
What You’ll Actually Find in a Buffalo Obit
Buffalo obituaries are notoriously detailed compared to big-city papers like the NYT. You’ll find:
- The Parish: Mention of churches like St. Stanislaus or St. Anthony of Padua.
- Fraternal Organizations: Memberships in the Knights of Columbus or the Polish Falcons.
- The "Viewing": Historical obits always listed the funeral home. If the funeral home is still in business (and many in Buffalo are third-generation family-owned), they might have even more records in their private files.
Searching these archives is a bit like being a detective. You find a name, which leads to a church, which leads to a cemetery. In Buffalo, that usually means a trip to Forest Lawn or Mount Olivet.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
People search for "John Smith" and give up when 500 results pop up. You have to narrow it down. Use the spouse’s name or a specific suburb like "Lackawanna" or "Kenmore" in the search string.
Also, watch out for nicknames. In Buffalo, everyone had a nickname. "Stan" might be "Stanislaus." "Dolly" might be "Dorothy." If the search isn't working, try the last name and the year only. Scroll through. It takes longer, but it's more accurate.
Another thing? Spelling. Names were often butchered by typesetters. My own family name has three different spellings in the Buffalo News obituary archives depending on which decade you look at.
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Actionable Steps for Your Search
If you are ready to start digging, don't just wander aimlessly.
Start by gathering the "Big Three": Name, Date of Death, and Place of Residence. If you don't have the exact date, use the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) first to get the month and year.
Next, check the free resources. Head to the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library website and look at their "Genealogy & Local History" page. They have digital collections that are specific to WNY.
If the person was prominent in Buffalo—maybe a business owner or a local politician—search the "Buffalo News" for articles, not just obituaries. Sometimes the "death notice" is short, but a "feature obituary" or a news story provides the real meat.
Finally, if you’re out of town, consider hiring a local researcher or asking a "Random Act of Genealogical Kindness" volunteer in Erie County to snap a photo of the microfilm for you. Buffalo people are helpful; usually, someone is willing to help a former Buffalonian find their roots.
Western New York history is preserved in these pages. Whether it's a small three-line notice or a half-page tribute to a civic leader, the archives are the most honest record of who we were and where we came from.
Next Steps for Your Search:
- Locate your library card. Use it to log into the ProQuest "Historical Newspapers" database via the library portal to avoid individual article fees.
- Verify the date of death. Use the Erie County Clerk’s online records or the SSDI to narrow your search window to a specific 3-day period in the archives.
- Search for the funeral home. If the obituary is vague, call the funeral home listed; they often maintain records of "surviving kin" that weren't published in the paper.
- Check the "Digital Buffalo" collection. The SUNY Buffalo libraries also hold digitized versions of local publications that might supplement what you find in the News.