# How do I go about finding a burial site? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 7, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639 "2010-05-07T15:39:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639/1 "2010-05-07T15:39:39Z")
I would like to find out where a great-uncle and great-aunt of mine are buried, but I’m not sure the best way to search, and so any tips would be appreciated. I know their names, the city they lived in(Detroit), and the Christian denomination they belonged to(Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod), although not the specific congregation. I know what year(1976) my great-uncle died, and I presume his wife, my great-aunt, didn’t long survive him. They had moved from their home of many years to a retirement home, but my father, their nephew, can’t remember the name. If you know what kind of agencies or groups to contact in my search I’d appreciate it. I’ve Googled their complete names plus other keywords, but so far I’ve come up short. They had no children, so there’s no help there. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639/2 "2010-05-07T16:37:06Z")
Call the library. First you’ll want to find obituaries, because that gives you cemeteries usually. You can narrow down at least the month of death using the Social Security Death Index and then the most you’ll have to hunt through microfilm is a month. Then, it depends - some cemeteries have published grave indexes, some haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639/3 "2010-05-07T19:46:49Z")
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll go to my own library and found out where to write to in Detroit. I’m in Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639/4 "2010-05-07T19:57:35Z")
I hope you have good luck. A few years ago I asked my aunt to show me my grandparents’ graves, and I’m lucky I did, because she was in her late 70s and already having a hard time getting around. And without her guidance I don’t think I ever would have found those graves. They were in a tiny, very obscure Jewish cemetary in a small town north of Montreal far from any highway. Right in the middle of some chicken farms. If you didn’t know it was there you would never suspect there was a Jewish cemetery there. (Not too far from Mirabel airport, for those who know the area.) And then the gravestones had no English (or French) on them at all – just Hebrew or Yiddish. So my aunt had to indicate which ones were my grandparents. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639/5 "2010-05-07T20:34:00Z")
Isn’t there a website called \*find a grave \*? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639/6 "2010-05-07T20:36:48Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll go to my own library and found out where to write to in Detroit. I’m in Kansas. Some libraries (including ours, which believe you me is one of the suckiest parts of my day) will e-mail you obituaries. Everybody’s guidelines vary, depending on what finding aids they have and such (we have an index of front page death lists, so we’ll look for a month for you) but you may be surprised at what a library you don’t even belong to will do for you. ETA - here’s one way to get at the SSDI: > **[RootsWeb.com Home Page](https://www.rootsweb.com/)** > > RootsWeb - the Internet's oldest and largest FREE genealogical community. An award winning genealogical resource with searchable databases, free Web space, mailing lists, message boards, and more. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639/7 "2010-05-07T23:54:04Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Isn’t there a website called \*find a grave \*? [Find A Grave](http://www.findagrave.com/) relies on people registering gravesites and cemeteries themselves. So if no one in the OP’s family listed them, they aren’t there. ---
**Author:** ![RingsOfPylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3da27b/32.png) [@RingsOfPylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RingsOfPylon)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639/8 "2010-05-08T02:35:24Z")
Hello Baker, Try here: [FamilySearch.org](http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=home) The LDS has the collection of Michigan Death Indexes through 1995 or 1996 (can’t remember the ending year) and that should help you. If/when the search returns a list of hits, mouse over (or click) on the person’s name to see the record info. I tested a few common names – such as the ever-creative “John Smith” and typed “Michigan” in the location. It returned some death records. The records provide the date and city/town of burial, but not the exact cemetery. Other records _might_ have the name of the cemetery but, if not, at least you can narrow it down to a location and hopefully it will be more precise. And, you never know what else you may find in the search. Once you find the record, you may be able to order their death records from Michigan here: [http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-4645---,00.html](http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-4645---,00.html) and that should provide the exact place of burial. Also there is this nice collection of links here: [Online Michigan Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries](http://www.deathindexes.com/michigan/index.html) Best of luck! ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639/9 "2010-05-08T11:32:28Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > [Find A Grave](http://www.findagrave.com/) relies on people registering gravesites and cemeteries themselves. So if no one in the OP’s family listed them, they aren’t there. That’s not true. Many people walk local cemeteries and photograph the gravestones to put up memorials, or work from obituaries. It’s not just family members of the deceased. **Baker** , in addition to the suggestions already posted, if you know where the relatives died you can try contacting nearby funeral homes. If you can locate the one that took care of them they should have records of where the burial occurred. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-go-about-finding-a-burial-site/538639/10 "2010-05-09T13:16:18Z")
Thanks everyone for all the info! I really appreciate it. If/when I find what I’m looking for I’ll post about it. This board is great!