Finding a specific name in the nola obits times picayune database can feel like trying to find a single bead on St. Charles Avenue the morning after Mardi Gras. It's crowded. It’s loud. There is a ton of history piled on top of more history. But for anyone who has lived in or loved New Orleans, those obituary pages aren't just death notices. They are the final rhythm of a jazz funeral, captured in ink and pixels.
New Orleans isn't like other cities. We don't just "pass away" here; we "enter into eternal rest," often leaving behind a trail of recipes, second-line memories, and a list of surviving cousins that spans three parishes. Because of that, searching for an obituary in the Times-Picayune (now merged with The New Orleans Advocate) requires a little more than just a name and a date. You've got to know where the digital bodies are buried, so to speak.
The Messy Reality of the nola obits times picayune Search
Honestly, the biggest mistake people make is thinking that one single search bar covers everything from 1837 to 2026. It doesn't. Not even close. If you’re looking for someone who passed away last Tuesday, NOLA.com is your best bet. But if you’re looking for your great-grandmother who lived in the Seventh Ward in the 1950s? That's a different beast entirely.
Recent vs. Historical: Where to Look
- For 2000 to Today: You’ll likely land on the NOLA.com obituary portal, which is powered by Legacy.com. It’s pretty slick. You can search by name, date range, and even keywords like "Holy Cross" or "Zulu."
- For 1972 to 1999: This is the "gap era." You often have to use the USGenWeb Archives Project or specialized library databases because the modern digital crawlers don't always reach back that far with accuracy.
- For 1837 to 1972: This is where it gets cool. The New Orleans Public Library has a massive obituary index. We’re talking 650,000 cards that were digitized from old wooden cabinets.
It’s kind of wild to think about. Back in the day, the Daily Picayune cost exactly one picayune—a Spanish coin worth about 6 cents. Now, you’re paying for a digital subscription or a per-line fee to keep that memory alive. Times change, but the need to remember doesn't.
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How to Actually Find Someone Without Losing Your Mind
Searching for nola obits times picayune usually starts with a Google search, but that's where the frustration begins. You get ten different sites trying to sell you "background checks" when all you want is the funeral time.
Try this instead. Go directly to the NOLA.com obituary section. Once there, use the "Advanced Search." Don't just put in "Smith." Put in "Smith" and "Metairie" or "Smith" and "St. Augustine." New Orleans is a city of neighborhoods. If you don't use the neighborhood or the school, you're going to be scrolling through 400 people named Boudreaux.
Also, a pro tip: check the Guest Books. Sometimes the obituary itself is short because print space is expensive (starting around $50 to $55 these days), but the Guest Book is where the real stories live. You’ll find people posting about how the deceased made the best gumbo in the parish or how they never missed a Jazz Fest since '74.
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Why the Guest Books Matter
- Moderation: Unlike the wild west of social media, these are moderated. You won't (usually) see trolls here.
- Connections: It's common to see long-lost relatives leave their contact info.
- Photos: Families often upload "extra" photos here that didn't make the print edition.
The Cost of Saying Goodbye in Print
Let’s talk money. It isn’t cheap to be in the Times-Picayune. While an online-only notice might start around $50, a full-color print obituary with a photo and a long narrative can easily climb into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Most people don't realize that newspapers charge by the line or the "column inch." If you're writing a life story that reads like a Hemingway novel, be prepared to pay for it. This is why you see so many "short" obits that direct you to a funeral home website for the full story. It’s a savvy move. You get the prestige of being in the "T-P" without the four-figure bill.
Navigating the Archives Like a Local
If you're doing genealogy, the nola obits times picayune archives are a gold mine. But you have to be careful with spellings. Back in the 1800s and early 1900s, names were misspelled constantly. My own family has three different spellings in the archives because the person taking the notes at the paper just wrote what they heard.
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Use the "wildcard" search feature. On many library sites, you can put an asterisk after a name (like Johns*) to find Johnson, Johnston, and Johnsen. It saves you hours of manual clicking.
Actionable Steps for Your Search
If you are looking for a recent obituary right now, stop what you're doing and follow this sequence:
- Check NOLA.com first: Use the "Past 30 Days" filter to narrow it down quickly.
- Verify with the Funeral Home: If the name isn't showing up on NOLA.com yet, go to the website of the funeral home (Charbonnet-Labat, Rhodes, Lake Lawn, etc.). They usually post the digital version 24 hours before the newspaper does.
- Use the Library for History: If you are looking for an ancestor, skip the paid sites for a moment and hit the New Orleans Public Library’s digital obituary index. It's free and much more accurate for local history.
- Set a Google Alert: If you’re waiting for a specific person’s notice to appear, set an alert for "[Name] obituary New Orleans." You'll get an email the second it hits the web.
The Times-Picayune has survived the Civil War, yellow fever, and Hurricane Katrina. Its obituary pages are essentially the diary of the city. Whether you're looking for a lost friend or tracing your roots back to the 1800s, those records are the closest thing we have to a permanent record of the souls that made New Orleans what it is today.
Don't just look for dates; look for the stories in the guest books. That's where the real New Orleans lives on.