07/23/03

Messenger-Inquirer

The Messenger-Inquirer offers two types of obituaries: free and paid.

Free obituaries are run for residents of seven counties: Daviess, Hancock, McLean, Muhlenberg, Ohio and Breckinridge in Kentucky and Spencer in Indiana.

Information in free obituaries consists of:

-- Name, city of residence, date of death.

-- These survivors: Spouse, children, parents, grandparents and siblings (step and half relatives are included). The cities where they live are not listed.

-- Occupation or last place of work before retirement.

-- Military branch and wars in which served.

-- Church membership.

-- One memorial contribution.

-- Time, date and place of funeral, visitation and burial.

Paid obituaries contain more information than free obituaries and can be run for residents or nonresidents of the seven-county area. Obituaries for residents outside of the seven-county area must be prepaid.

Information, in addition to what is contained in a free obituary, may include:

-- Photo, life history, all survivor information (including cities of residence), emblem of church, charity, college or other organization and any other additional information the family chooses. There is no limit to length.

Funeral and visitation information, if applicable after the publication of the obituary, will be published in the funeral listing at no charge for both paid and free obituaries.

Paid and free obituaries will be posted on http://www.messenger-inquirer.com.

Obituary information should come through a funeral home. Rates for paid obituaries are based on length and are available from regional funeral homes. Basic rates are $50 for up to five inches and $80 for over five inches and up to 10 inches.