Temple Daily Telegram's Policies & Procedures

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Obituary Policy

Free obituaries in the Temple Daily Telegram are news reports and not paid funeral notices. Because free obituaries are news, it is the Temple Daily Telegram's policy to determine what will be included in an obituary. However, it is no longer the policy of the Telegram to print the cause of death in an obituary. In cases of deaths by other than natural causes such as accidents, suicides or deaths of an undetermined cause which are under investigation by police, the Telegram will have a separate news story. Deadline for free full obits is 6 p.m. the day before publication. Deadline for free pending notices is 8 p.m. the day before publication.

*Free obituaries will not be accepted over the phone.  Handwritten obituaries will not be accepted.

We feel it is the funeral directors' responsibility to inform their clients of the Telegram's policy on free obituaries.

We will run the following:

1. Name, age, city of residence of deceased.
2. When (day of week, month, date), where and sometimes (as noted previously) how the person died.
3. When, where funeral service and burial are scheduled and who is conducting service; rosaries, family visitation times, viewing's, other memorial services.
4. Biographical information
   1. date of birth
   2. college, degree
   3. place of employment and/or occupation (will list even if retired from job)
   4. military service
   5. Service, fraternal or professional organization memberships
   6. church membership or religion
   7. Major civic or military honors
   8. how long lived in community
5. Survivors
   1. By name — spouse, children, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters (includes step-and half- relations except grandparents)
   2. By number — grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.
   3. When there is no survivor in the "By name" category we will run the name of any local survivor in the next closest family member group in the following order: grandchildren; great-grandchildren; aunts and uncles; nieces and nephews; cousins.
      If there is no local relative we will not run the name of a survivor unless that person has also lived in our circulation area at sometime and then the obituary will say ". . . survived by John Smith of Oshkosh, Wis., and formerly of Red Ranger."
6. Funeral home in charge of services, if not already listed as the place where services are being conducted.
7. To whom memorial gifts, etc. may be made.
8. Where the family may be contacted if other than the deceased's residence.
9. When, where the person was married and when the spouse preceded the deceased in death.
10. Names of children who preceded the deceased in death.
11. Where the person was born.

We will not run:

1. A picture with a free obituary.
2. Relatives other than spouse and children who preceded the deceased in death.
3. Names of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, cousins.

When we will accept an obituary as a free obituary:

1. The person who died lived and or worked in our circulation area. (Full obituary will be run)
2. When the person who died formerly lived or worked in our area. (Full obituary will be run)
3. When a survivor** of the deceased lives or works in our area, but the deceased never did. (An abbreviated obituary will be run including an abbreviated or no bio and the only survivors listed by name will be the local survivors)
4. When services and/or burial will be conducted in our area or by a funeral home in our area. (Full obituary will be run)

We will not accept an obituary when:

1. The person died in our area, but did not live here and has no connection to our area other than dying here. This is true even if a local funeral home is handling the local arrangements.
2. The only connection to the area is that a survivor was a former resident of the area.

** For purposes of determining who is a survivor, we mean only those people we would list by name in the obituary. Husband, wife, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandparents, great-grandparents etc. Also included in survivors would be step- and half- relations of this same type.

Any deviation from these guidelines requires a paid obituary which must be submitted to the Display Advertising Department of the Temple Daily Telegram. Deadlines are as follows: obituary to run anyday Tuesday through Saturday must be submitted by 2 p.m. the day before publication. An obituary to run Sunday and/or Monday must be submitted by 10am Saturday. Holiday deadlines as published in the paper. At the request of the family the Telegram will be happy to run a free obituary in addition to a paid obituary. Paid obituaries will run in a separate area of the obituary page of the Telegram, not under the Central Texas Obituaries headline.

The Temple Daily Telegram does not charge families or funeral homes for routine obituaries or listings in the Funerals Today column. The information requested here is what the Telegram will run in a free obituary. Information beyond what is requested here, including a photograph, will necessitate contacting the Telegram's advertising department for a paid obituary. If a family wishes to pay for an obituary, it is the policy of the Telegram to still offer a free obituary if one is desired by the family. It is also the policy of the Telegram to run a free listing in the Funerals Today column for both free and paid obituaries unless the family requests otherwise.

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