Death Records Now

http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi
California Death Records 9,366,786 records from 1940 thru 1997

Warning 1: It is an index; the most you’ll get is name, sex, birthdate, birth state, father’s surname, mother’s maiden name, residence at time of death, death date. That’s the most; many records have blank fields.

Warning 2: It is supported by advertising. The ads rotate. Sometimes the ad asks for a name and leads you to a pay site. Scroll down past the ad.

www.findagrave.com is nation-wide and free. It has some entries for California. The entries range from the simple (John Smith, 1903 – 1971) to the elaborate; some have biographies, cause of death (especially if the person died in an accident, in battle, or of a disease) and links to spouses and/or parents and/or children.

You can find obituaries in old newspapers on microfilm in libraries. They usually don’t mention cause of death, but they usually have a mini-biography.

George (we called him Joe,why I don’t know) was born about 1899 place unknown. He married Leona Ruth Jackson who was first wife of Ward Arlie Goodrich. George and Leona were living in Santa Monica California in the 1950’s where I believe he died. He as a chef in Santa Monica and Los Angeles Hotels.(Leona is since deceased).If Joe had any children we knew of none .
Sources I have checked:
1900,1910,1920,1930 US Censuses
Los Angeles death records online.
Social Security Death Index
Santa Monica death records.
Records of Leona Ruth Jackson
All open genealogical websites(Roots Web,Ancestry etc.
All entries mentioning him or Leona on any of these sites are my research entries.
Thank you
Please read the above sources before sending information. Also do not waste my time with foolish responses.I am 81y/o and neither have the patience or time for such foolishness.I always thank those who take this site seriously

Hi,
.
To find your George, we’re either going to need more information(George’s mother’s maiden name, or last location you know he lived in and when) , or you’ll have to get the obituary/death notices of the following people and see if Leona is mentioned. (George’s death certificate would serve equally as well. It might be better than the newspaper if you can only find a death notice. ):
.
= = = =
George Kennedy 04/01/1899 (?) – 08/31/1966 (San Francisco, CA)
George Dewey Kennedy 03/17/1899 (Texas) – 06/11/1993 (Yolo County, CA)
George W Kennedy 05/14/1899 (Iowa) – 09/24/1976 (San Bernardino, CA)
William George Kennedy 08/16/1899 (Illinois) – 12/20/1991 (Napa, CA)
= = = = =
George W Kennedy 05/15/1898 (Indiana) – 02/21/1970 (Santa Barbara, CA)
George W Kennedy 12/01/1898 (Massachusetts) – 10/24/1987 (Riverside, CA)
William George Kennedy 03/24/1898 (Oklahoma) – 12/30/1957 San Diego, CA)
= = = = =
.
California has a very good Death index for the entire state at:
http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi
.
It’s much more effective than the Social security death index, because it includes people that didn’t qualify for Social security.
.
I’ve often seen birth and death dates rounded up or down on headstones, so he may have been born the year before or after you were told.
.
I’d start with the Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino entries…all near Los Angeles.
.
The following Genealogy societies might be able to help you as well:
http://www.sbgen.org/
http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/
.
Hope this helps, and Good Luck!

My Grandmother died in 1949 in Los Angeles California. I looked on the California and Los Angeles County records website to see if I can order her Death Certificate as part of a geneology project but it says 1995 to present deaths only. I went to rootsweb and got her SSN#, but not sure if its correct. Where else can I look?

This link is to the California Death Index. Enter her first name, her married surname and the death year. The results should give you her date of birth/death, her maiden name and her mother’s maiden name http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi

For death certificates, you find more information about how to order copies for deaths between 1905 – present at this link http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/birthdeathmar/Pages/default.aspx

His name is Allan or Allen Shirley. I’m not for sure on the correct spelling. He died in 1985. I’m doing this for my mother so alot of help would be appreciated!
WITHOUT PAYING MONEY! because we all know it’s tight right now!

RootsWeb has a death record data base for California 1940 – 1995. They don’t have one for every state and they don’t have anything later or earlier for California.

http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi

SHIRLEY, ALLEN
B. 02/14/1934 in COLORADO
Mother’s maiden name: MANQUIS
D. LOS ANGELES(19) 04/08/1985
[I don’t know what "(19)" means]

The corresponding SSDI says his LR was El Monte.

That is a death RECORD, not a death Certificate. The Certificate will tell you his mother’s full name and his father’s full name, if the person who supplied the data knew. His SSN application is $27, but he filled it out. 30% of the death certificates I see say "Unknown" for parents. 99% of the SSN applications I see have both parents filled in.

You would have to drive to the county library branch in El Monte, or send them a request and a check, to get the obituary. He was almost certainly not in the LA Times, unless he was famous or infamous. He may have been in the El Monte (News / Herald / Sun / Star) – whatever the local paper is there.

I’m doing genealogy and I’m looking for information on my grandfather. He immigrated from Mexico and I can’t find him. I know when he passed away and where but am running into a road block. Can anyone help?
I’m not looking for the certificate itself. I’m more or less looking for the information that is found on it like the SSDI database. I was just wondering if there is any sites that would tell me information like that but involving birth instead of death. For instance, place of birth and mother and father.
Particularly, I’m looking for anything on my grandpa’s birthplace and parents. His name was Frank Hernandez. Born in 1897 and died in December 1978 in South Dakota.

http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi
has "9,366,786 records from 1940 thru 1997". It is for California. There are other sites like that; certain states, certain time periods. There isn’t a nation-wide data base of all deaths.

http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
is nation-wide but not everyone is on it.

www.findagrave.com has 22 million entries.

Hunt around. Google "Death index Utah" or "Death Index Idaho".

Note that almost no site has the certificate; you have to write away (and pay for) that