Losing someone is heavy. It's that sudden, sharp shift in reality where the world keeps spinning, but your personal clock just stops. When you're looking for stumpff funeral home obits, you’re usually not just "browsing." You're looking for a connection, a time for a service, or maybe just a way to see a familiar face one last time.
Honestly, the way we find these records in Northeast Oklahoma has changed a lot. It’s not just about waiting for the Sunday paper anymore. If you're looking for someone in Bartlesville, Nowata, or Skiatook, the digital trail is where the real story lives, but it’s surprisingly easy to get lost in the weeds of third-party legacy sites.
Why the Search for Stumpff Funeral Home Obits Can Be Tricky
You’ve probably noticed that when you type a name into a search engine, you get a dozen different websites claiming to have the obituary. It’s frustrating. Some of these sites are just "scraping" data, and they might not have the most recent service updates.
If you want the ground truth, you have to go to the source. Stumpff Funeral Home & Crematory has been a fixture in Oklahoma since Keith and Doris Stumpff opened their doors in 1966. Because they handle so many families—over 10,000 since they started—their own internal database is the gold standard.
The main hub for stumpff funeral home obits is their official website. Why? Because that’s where the "Tribute Wall" lives. This isn't just a block of text; it's where people post photos, share stories about how "Uncle Jim" always burnt the toast, and light virtual candles. If a service is moved because of an Oklahoma ice storm, that’s where the update happens first.
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Understanding the Regional Reach
Stumpff isn't just one building on Washington Blvd. They have a massive footprint in the region. When you're searching, you need to know which branch handled the arrangements, as the "local" feel of these obituaries often reflects the specific community.
- Bartlesville (The Main Hub): Located at 1600 SE Washington Blvd. This is where the first private, on-site crematory in the area was built.
- Nowata: They’ve been here since 1975, with a newer, modern facility that opened in 2017 at 620 E Cherokee Ave.
- Skiatook: This location on North Cincinnati Ave often works in tandem with Green Acres Memorial Gardens.
- Barnsdall: A smaller, tight-knit community presence.
The "Services Pending" Limbo
We've all been there. You find the name of a friend or former coworker, but the obituary says "Services Pending." It feels like unfinished business.
Basically, this happens because the family is still coordinating with the church, the cemetery, or out-of-town relatives. In the Bartlesville area, the Stumpff team is known for not rushing this. They let families breathe. If you see "pending," the best thing you can do is sign up for their obituary notifications. It’s a simple email alert. No spam, just a ping when the details are finalized. It’s way better than refreshing a browser tab twenty times a day.
Real Examples of Recent Record Keeping
Looking at the start of 2026, the volume of records is a testament to how many people trust this name. You'll see names like Hazle Straley or Lloyd Wyrick appearing in the "Services Pending" section of local radio obits or the Stumpff site itself.
The nuance here is in the "Care Type." Not every record you find will have a traditional funeral. Since Stumpff is the #1 cremation provider in Northeast Oklahoma, a lot of the stumpff funeral home obits you find will mention "cremation under the care of..." followed by a later "Celebration of Life." Don't go looking for a casket at a service if the obit specifically mentions a memorial at a park or a private residence.
How to Write a Meaningful Tribute
If you're the one tasked with writing one of these, the pressure is immense. You have to condense seventy years of life into five hundred words.
Kinda daunting, right?
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The best obituaries I’ve seen on the Stumpff site don't just list dates and survivors. They mention the small stuff. Did they love the Oklahoma Sooners? Did they spend every Saturday at the Nowata County fair?
- Start with the basics: Full name, age, and the date they passed.
- The "Dash": That's the stuff between the birth and death dates. Mention their career, sure, but mention their hobbies more.
- The Family: List the survivors, but also the ones who went before them.
- Service Info: Be crystal clear about times and locations.
A Note on the "Butler-Stumpff" Connection
This confuses people a lot. If you're searching for stumpff funeral home obits in Tulsa, you're actually looking for Butler-Stumpff & Dyer.
It's the same family—David Stumpff (Keith's son) owns and operates these. But the records are kept on a different website. If your loved one lived in the Tulsa Pearl District or near downtown, check the Butler-Stumpff site instead of the Bartlesville one. It’s a common mix-up that leads to a lot of "I can't find the obituary" phone calls.
Practical Steps for Finding an Older Obituary
If you’re doing genealogy or looking for someone who passed away years ago, the current funeral home website might not be enough. They usually keep the last few years easily accessible, but for the deep archives:
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- The Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Most Stumpff records from the 70s, 80s, and 90s are archived here.
- The Gateway to Oklahoma History: A digital repository that is a goldmine for old Nowata and Bartlesville records.
- Find A Grave: Since Stumpff works closely with Green Acres Memorial Gardens and Dewey Cemetery, many volunteers have uploaded photos of the headstones and linked the original obituaries there.
Moving Forward After the Search
Finding the obituary is just the first step in the grieving process. It’s the "official" announcement, but the real work is in the days that follow.
If you've found the record you were looking for, take a moment to actually leave a comment on the Tribute Wall. It sounds small, but for a grieving spouse or child, seeing a message like "I worked with him in 1994 and he was the funniest guy in the office" means the world. It proves their loved one hasn't been forgotten.
If you are planning a service yourself, remember that the deadline for things like monument installations (especially for dates like Memorial Day) usually falls in mid-March. Don't wait until the last minute to think about the permanent memorial just because the obituary is finished.
Check the official Stumpff website directly for the most accurate, up-to-the-minute service times to avoid showing up at a chapel on the wrong day. They update their "Recent Obits" section daily, often before the local newspapers can get the print editions out.