looking for an old Obituary from 1972 for my step children of their mother who had died when they were babies?

Question

her Name was Carolyn Joyce Jones. My step children never knew her or have anything from here or even konw where she is buried. She died in somewhere in the Bronx New York. She might have been buried in New Jersey.Please help me find this my step would have some enclosure., and maybe able to visit her grave. They are great people and I would like to visit her grave to and give thanks to her for those children

Answer 1

The main library in the Bronx should have archived newspapers in their archives department. Knowing the actual date of death will help you find the date it was placed in the newspaper. Hopefully the obituary will give you more insight as to where she is buried.

Answer 2

Here is the information that I have found looking on ancestry.com:

Social Security Death Index
about Carolyn Jones
Name: Carolyn Jones
SSN: 228-38-3990
Last Residence: 10025 New York, New York, New York, United States of America
Born: 17 Aug 1888
Died: Dec 1971
State (Year) SSN issued: Virginia (Before 1951 )

Source Citation: Number: 228-38-3990;Issue State: Virginia;Issue Date: Before 1951.

I went to ancestry.com and did a search on Carolyn Joyce Jones and I browsed through 500 search results, and that was all that I was able to find. The search did not return ANY obituary results at all. Obviously, the more information you have about a person, the easier it will be finding what you are looking for. If you can't get to the local library or the newspaper that would have had listed the obituary, then you may have more luck finding information using what you would already have on the children's birth certificate. Is it possible that she could have been using a maiden name, or even remarried, which would cause the information to be listed under a different last name. If you haven't already done so, you can begin a tree at ancestry.com, which will give you a three day free trial in which you could search through the records that they have. Good luck!

Answer 3

For an obituary that's as old as this one, it's probably best to try a library in the city where an obituary would have been published. Most libraries (even fairly small ones) usually have someone who knows at least a bit about genealogy. You can also contact the paper directly if you know who printed it, or can reasonably guess. Try contacting the funeral home that might have handled the burial, also.

I am seeing one person online at Ancestry.com that might fit the bill; her name was Carolyn Jones; she died December 1971 (so very close to 1972) in New York City, NY. According to the index, her SS# was 228-38-3990, and was issued in Virginia before 1951. If any of that makes some sense to you, you're welcome to contact me at [e-mail] and I will see if I can come up with more for you. I don't charge for what I do - it's strictly a hobby.

Answer 4

This won't be easy to do without getting in your car, but it's not the worst search in the world.

Here's the background:
She won't be listed in SSDI if she never had vested quarters in the system before she died because in the 70s, SSDI didn't list people who weren't in the active workforce (under their definition of the term).
If you can narrow down the date of death to a month and year, it would help. You need to go get her death certificate from the Bronx...and that will give you the name of the funeral home to which the body was released and "should" (but not always pre-1980) tell you where the body was put to rest. If the death certificate doesn't tell you where she was laid to rest, contact the funeral home for the information. Believe me, they keep all of their old records. BTW...if there was an obituary, the funeral home will have a copy of that in her file, too.

If you can't find ANY of that, then the next step is to find a church that would have held her funeral. Hopefully there was a religious ceremony and hopefully you know her religious affiliations. Literally, just pick up the phone and call, telling the church secretaries exactly what you told us and asking them to search for her funeral in their records. The church will keep a record of the date of the funeral and the place of burial.

Only as a last resort (and mainly because they're not the easiest records to get), contact the county health departments one by one in New Jersey looking for the burial permit on her. The county has to issue one before any body is legally buried in their jurisdiction. This is especially true when the person died in another state. The burial permit will give you several key pieces of information, including the death certificate number and agency that issue it, date of death, date of burial, name of the cemetery and plot number.

As for the obit, it's unlikely to have much substance. Many times they're just one liners. Best if you can find the funeral home, but if not, start at the library with the NYTimes from the week when she died.

I tried searching for her at FindAGrave.com, but she's not there. I pulled the search on Internment.net, but they only search by surname...and, well, Jones is a bit overwhelmingly common. Here's the list of all Jones' buried in New Jersey. Maybe she is there...or maybe you'll have an idea of which county and can narrow it down a little.
http://www.interment.net/data/query_select.idq?CiRestriction=jones&select=%2Fus%2Fnj&CiScope=%2F&CiMaxRecordsPerPage=10&TemplateName=serp_us_nj&CiSort=rank%5Bd%5D&HTMLQueryForm=search.htm

I hope this helps. If you hit a roadblock along the way, drop me a note and I'll do what I can to help you find her.

Answer 5

Hi, I checked the Social Security death index for Carolyn Jones dying in 1972, one was in California and another in New Jersey but this one was 70 years old. I couldn't find anything else.
I think you will need to get a copy of her death certificate to find anything else out. You can request this online at:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/vr/vrdappl.shtml

Answer 6

You sound so nice. Doesn't your husband know where she was buried? or any of his/her relatives. He must have known her maiden name so there would be a birth/death certificate. Try the Department of Vital Statistics for that area to see what comes up or look in and check with them.

What an admirable task you have taken on. I like you without even knowing you. You stepchildrlen are really lucky that you are so caring and not intimidated by someone who came before. Good luck to you all. Closure would be wonderful for this family. Hugs. mary

Answer 7

Use your search engine and type Obituaries, 1972, New York. It will take you to www.newspaperarchive.com
Type the name of the person you are searching for and a list of articles for you to choose from will appear.

Answer 8

just a note to add my pat on the back to you.
I constantly deal (off here) with divided and hostile families, who could care less if children know their living parents (or grandparents).
You are a blessing to them to teach them that love does not need to be divided, there is plenty to go around.
Any knowledge of parents or siblings?