Looking for news star obits isn't as straightforward as it used to be. Honestly, the days of just picking up a thick Sunday paper and flipping to the back pages are mostly gone, replaced by a digital maze that can be frustrating if you're grieving or just trying to trace your family roots in Northeast Louisiana.
The Monroe News-Star has been the paper of record for the Twin Cities and surrounding parishes for over a century. But if you’ve ever tried to find a specific notice from, say, 1985 versus one from last Thursday, you've probably realized they live in two completely different worlds.
The Digital Shift in Monroe Records
Most people assume everything is just "online." It’s not.
If you are looking for a recent passing—something within the last few years—you're likely going to end up on Legacy.com or the "We Remember" memorial pages. The News-Star partners with these platforms to host their modern obituary content.
It’s a different experience. You get high-res photos, guestbooks where you can leave a digital candle, and links to send flowers directly to local funeral homes like Mulhearn or Kilpatrick.
🔗 Read more: Johnny Somali AI Deepfake: What Really Happened in South Korea
But here’s the kicker: these digital records are often managed by the funeral homes themselves. If a family chooses not to publish a formal notice in the print edition of the News-Star to save on costs (and those costs are skyrocketing), the "official" news star obits search might come up empty, even if the person lived in Monroe their whole life.
Where the Real History Lives
What about the old stuff? If you're doing genealogy, the modern search bars won't help you much.
The Ouachita Parish Public Library is actually the secret weapon here. They maintain a massive Obituary Index that covers local newspapers from the 1800s through the present day. We’re talking over 200,000 names.
- The Index: You can search the name online through the library's database.
- The Microfilm: Once you find the date and page number, you usually have to visit the Genealogy department in person to actually see the clipping.
- The Coverage: It includes the Weekly News Star (1894–1920) and the daily version we know today.
It's a bit of a trek, but it’s the only way to find those deep-cut records that Google hasn't indexed yet.
💡 You might also like: Sweden School Shooting 2025: What Really Happened at Campus Risbergska
Why the Cost of Obits is Changing the News
You’ve probably noticed obituaries getting shorter. Or maybe you’ve seen more "death notices"—those tiny, three-line blurbs—instead of full biographies.
Basically, it's about the money.
In 2026, publishing a full-page story about a loved one’s life in a Gannett-owned paper like the News-Star can cost hundreds, sometimes over a thousand dollars. Because of this, many Monroe families are shifting to "social media obituaries" or just using the funeral home's website.
This creates a "memory gap." If it’s not in the paper, it’s not archived in the same way for future generations. If you’re searching for news star obits and can’t find a prominent local figure, check the local funeral home sites directly.
📖 Related: Will Palestine Ever Be Free: What Most People Get Wrong
Recent Notable Names in the Region
Just this month, the local community has said goodbye to some familiar faces. These are the kinds of entries that people are currently searching for in the Monroe area:
- Honorable Robert "Bob" W. Kostelka: A massive figure in the local legal community who passed in early January 2026.
- Joyce Marie Dartlon: A Bastrop native whose recent notice saw significant traffic from the surrounding parishes.
- Dr. Charles H. Whitaker, Jr.: While he practiced elsewhere later in life, his Monroe roots brought many back to the News-Star archives to read about his early days in the city.
How to Search Like a Pro
If you're hitting a wall, try these steps. First, don't just search the name. Search the name plus "Monroe LA" and the year.
Often, an obituary will be published in a smaller neighboring town’s paper—like the Bastrop Daily Enterprise—instead of the main Monroe paper if the family had ties there.
Also, check the USGenWeb Archives. They have volunteers who have manually transcribed news star obits from as far back as 2007 and earlier. It’s a bit of a "Web 1.0" experience with plain text files, but the data is solid and free.
Practical Steps for Your Search
- Start with Legacy: It’s the easiest for anything from the last 15 years.
- Use the Library Index: For anything older than the internet.
- Check Funeral Home Sites: Kilpatrick and Mulhearn often have more detail than the newspaper blurb.
- Verify with Social Media: Sometimes a "Celebration of Life" is only announced on Facebook.
The landscape of how we remember people in North Louisiana is shifting. The News-Star remains a primary source, but it's no longer the only source. To get the full picture of someone's life, you really have to look at the intersection of the professional newspaper records and the community-driven archives.
To get the most accurate results for a recent passing, visit the official News-Star website and navigate to the "Obituaries" tab, which will redirect you to their current hosting partner. For historical research, contact the Ouachita Parish Public Library Genealogy Department to request a microfilm search if you are located outside of the Monroe area.