Loss is heavy. When someone you care about passes away in the Wyoming Valley, finding that one specific tribute in the Times Leader obituaries past 30 days feels like a race against time and digital clutter. You've probably been there. Scrolling through Legacy pages, squinting at local news sites, or maybe just trying to verify a service time for a neighbor you grew up with.
It’s personal.
The Times Leader has been a staple in Wilkes-Barre and the surrounding Luzerne County towns like Kingston, Pringle, and Nanticoke for generations. Honestly, checking the obits is just part of the morning ritual for a lot of folks in NEPA. But in the last month alone, the community has said goodbye to some incredible individuals—from career paramedics to high school teachers and local business owners.
The Names We Remember: Recent Times Leader Obituaries
Lately, the listings have been particularly poignant. For instance, just this week, the community mourned Eric Johns, a 56-year-old Wilkes-Barre native who spent years as a career paramedic with the City of Wilkes-Barre Fire Department. He was a guy who loved classic rock and the Phillies, and his passing after a fight with cancer hit the first responder community hard.
Then there was Albert Surgan from Luzerne, who passed at 86, and Donna McLaughlin, a well-known figure in Mountain Top. These aren't just names in a database. They are the people who built our schools, coached our Little League teams, and sat in the pews at St. Robert Bellarmine.
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Why do we look?
Mostly, it’s about connection. People search for the Times Leader obituaries past 30 days to find out about service times, sure, but also to read those little details that make a life. Like how Bessie Guzenski of Nanticoke was a 1964 graduate of Northwest Area, or how Richard Engelman from Sweet Valley was born in Kingston way back in 1948. These snippets of history are what keep the spirit of the valley alive.
Why Digital Archives Can Be a Total Pain
Searching for recent deaths should be simple. It rarely is. You go to a site, and suddenly you're buried in pop-ups or "notable" national obituaries that have nothing to do with Wilkes-Barre. If you’re looking for someone specifically from the last month, the "past 30 days" filter is your best friend, but sometimes the date of publication and the actual date of death get mixed up in the search results.
It's frustrating.
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One thing people get wrong is assuming every obituary appears the day after someone passes. Life—and grief—doesn't always work on a 24-hour news cycle. Sometimes a family waits a week to gather their thoughts or coordinate with a funeral home like Daniel J. Hughes or Wroblewski Funeral Home. If you can’t find a name from two weeks ago, don’t panic. It might have been published slightly later than you expected.
How to Effectively Search the Times Leader Archives
If you’re hunting for a specific record from the last month, here is the raw truth: Google isn't always the fastest way. It's better to go straight to the source or use a dedicated partner site.
- Legacy.com's Times Leader Portal: This is where the paper hosts its digital tributes. You can filter by "Last 30 Days" specifically.
- GenealogyBank: If you need to go a bit deeper—maybe the person passed 29 days ago and the notice is starting to rotate out of the "recent" view—this site has a massive archive of the Times Leader that stretches back decades.
- Funeral Home Direct Sites: Often, local spots like Corcoran Funeral Home in Plains or Mayo Funeral Home in Shickshinny will post the full text before it even hits the Sunday paper.
Basically, if the name isn't showing up under the general search, try searching by the funeral home name plus the person's last name. It works like a charm.
The Nuance of NEPA Obituaries
There is a certain "flavor" to obituaries in this part of Pennsylvania. You'll see mention of the mines, the garment factories, and the specific parish where someone was baptized seventy years ago. When looking through the Times Leader obituaries past 30 days, you'll notice a lot of families suggest donations to local charities like Miles for Michael or Helping Heroes NEPA instead of flowers.
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That’s the valley for you. We take care of our own.
Also, keep in mind that many people from this area retire to places like Florida (Zephyrhills is a common one, as seen in the recent passing of Elayne Morgan), but their hearts stay here. Their obituaries still run in the Times Leader because this is where their story truly lives.
What to Do If You Can't Find an Obituary
Sometimes, an obituary isn't published. It happens. Whether for privacy or cost, some families opt for a simple death notice or nothing at all. If you’re looking for someone and nothing is popping up in the Times Leader obituaries past 30 days, you might want to:
- Check the Social Security Death Index (though it has a lag).
- Search the "Luzerne County Local News" sections, as sometimes a news story covers a passing before an official obit is placed.
- Call the local public library. The Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre has librarians who are basically wizards at finding local records.
It’s about more than just data. It’s about making sure these stories don't just disappear into the digital ether. Whether it's a 23-year-old like Logan Case or a community pillar who lived to be 90, these records are the final word on a life lived in our corner of the world.
Actionable Next Steps:
If you are looking for a specific person, start at the Times Leader official obituary page and set your filter to "Last 30 Days." If the name doesn't appear, cross-reference with the website of the funeral home located in the deceased's last known town of residence. For those doing genealogical research, consider a temporary subscription to an archive service like GenealogyBank to capture the full text and photos before they are moved to deep storage.