Finding a specific tribute in the Lake County News Sun obituaries is kinda like digging through a digital attic. Sometimes you find exactly what you need in seconds. Other times, you’re clicking through broken links and paywalls, wondering if the 1990s ever actually ended. Honestly, it’s a bit of a mess if you don’t know where to look.
But here’s the thing.
The News-Sun—formerly the Waukegan News-Sun—is the heartbeat of record for Lake County, Illinois. Whether someone lived in Waukegan, Gurnee, or Libertyville, their life story likely ended up in these pages. If you're looking for a relative from 1997 or checking on a service for this weekend, the process has changed. It’s no longer just a guy at a desk taking a phone call.
Where the Lake County News Sun Obituaries Actually Live
If you want to find a recent notice, you’ve basically got two choices. You can go to the official Chicago Tribune portal (since they own the paper now) or you can use Legacy.com.
Most people just Google the name and "obituary," but that often leads to those weird "scraping" sites that just want your data. Don't do that. Stick to the primary sources. For records from 1997 to 2026, sites like Obits Archive and GenealogyBank hold the digital keys.
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Wait.
What if you need something older? Like, way older. If you're looking for a death notice from the 1940s when the paper was still the Waukegan Daily News, you’re probably going to need a library card. The Zion-Benton Public Library and the Lake County IL Genealogical Society are the real MVPs here. They maintain physical and microfilm files of over 200,000 obituaries and cemetery cards.
It’s tactile. It’s slow. But it’s accurate.
The Cost of Saying Goodbye: What to Expect
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If you’re trying to submit a notice to the Lake County News Sun obituaries today, you’re looking at a starting price of roughly $360 for a small, 11-line text block. If you want a photo—and most people do—the price jumps. A "medium" notice is about $540, while something larger can easily crest $660.
If you want the full-page "display" treatment? You might want to sit down. Those can cost upwards of $2,500 to $4,500.
- Deadlines: Most notices need to be in by 4 PM the day before publication.
- Verification: You can't just send in a text. The paper requires verification from a funeral home or a death certificate.
- Photos: They run in black and white in the print paper but stay color online.
It's a lot of logistics during a time when your brain is probably fried from grief. Most people let the funeral director handle it, which is usually the smartest move. They know the formatting. They know the reps. They know how to make sure the "See Notice" cross-references for maiden names actually show up.
Why People Still Reference the "Waukegan" Name
It’s a local quirk. The paper dropped "Waukegan" from its masthead back in 1971, yet if you ask anyone over the age of 50 in Lake County where the obits are, they’ll say "The Waukegan News-Sun."
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The paper has survived a lot of hands. It went from the Just family (who ran it for 91 years) to Copley Press, then Hollinger, then Wrapports, and finally the Chicago Tribune Media Group in 2014. Every time the ownership changed, the archives got moved or re-indexed.
This is why searching for Lake County News Sun obituaries can feel like a scavenger hunt.
If you’re doing genealogy, the Lake County Public Library has a database called "Heritage Hub" that covers notices from 1824 to today. It’s a goldmine. You can search by maiden name, age, or even specific keywords like "Veteran" or "Member of the Elks Club."
Actionable Steps for Your Search
Don't just wander around the internet. If you need a record, do this:
- Check the News-Sun/Tribune digital archive first. This is best for anything within the last 10–15 years.
- Use the Lake County Genealogical Society for deep history. They charge about $5.00 for a lookup, which is a steal compared to a monthly subscription to a big genealogy site.
- Verify the funeral home. If the person passed recently, the funeral home's own website usually has the "full" version of the obituary for free, while the newspaper version might be edited for length to save money.
- Check Saturday editions. The News-Sun has a specific rhythm for its print cycles, and Saturday is often the big day for memorials.
Obituaries are more than just data. They are the final story a family gets to tell. Whether you’re looking for a lost branch of your family tree or just trying to find out when the visitation starts at Marsh Funeral Home, the Lake County News Sun obituaries remain the primary record of life and death in this corner of Illinois.
Keep your search terms specific. Use the full name and "News-Sun" in quotes to filter out the noise. If the digital search fails, pick up the phone and call the Waukegan Historical Society. Sometimes the best information isn't behind a paywall; it's in a drawer.