Listed are indexes and databases designed to help users research Hawaii death notices.
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Hawaii is a very unique state in that it is a group of islands scattered apart from one another. If you are searching the Hawaii obituary records for a particular part of your family, it can become quite difficult to do, especially if you don’t know which island or which part of that island you should focus your search on. Another thing that can hamper a search, particularly if your search is related to death records for a Hawaiian native, are the similarity in names plus the fact that some birth or death records may only use the Hawaiian name for a person, which may not be the name you know.
Searching online through all of the computerized Hawaii obituary records can save you some time and some major travel. A keyword search will yield 363,000 search results, however some of these results might be listed multiple times due to the way that they are generated and linked to one another. One of these search sites will lead you to several newspapers that publish online. There is another site, which is sponsored by a Hawaiian newspaper, that lists family placed obituaries and death notices that is also another great resource to start your search.
If you have an exact name for your ancestor, especially the Hawaiian name, you may be able to do a records search by starting with Google, which may potentially give you death records and other archived information.
Going to the hall of records or the local libraries on each of the islands might be the first step to getting your records. However, that is not realistic, particularly if you do not live in the area. You can contact the library or the records department for advice and suggestions for getting the Hawaii obituary records that you want to find. In some cases, this might involve two steps, starting with finding the name that the person was most likely to have been recorded under. For instance, those who have birth records listed with their Hawaiian name only may have their death records listed that way as well. Once you know exactly who you are looking for, you can start narrowing down your search process.
In most cases, the Hawaii obituary records search is not going to be accomplished in one fell swoop. You may need to combine your efforts, using a little bit of modern day magic to bridge the distance gap and reaching out to the offline resources to fill in the gaps.
Hawaii is a state of incredible beauty and a place where thousands of people retire to. This means that every year, there are more and more Hawaii obituaries being listed in newspapers across the island chain. You can start your search with the Hawaii Newspaper Index, located in the state library and easily accessed over the web.
This archive includes listings from both the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin Newspapers and features obits from 1989 to present day. You can also check the massive database located via the web at BYU. This database can be a bit redundant with the database listed above as it contains listings from 1995 onwards from the same two newspapers.
If you are looking for small town obits or ones from remote parts of the islands, you may want to contact small, regional newspapers in that area or the city hall of that region. It may be a difficult search, but you should be able to find the listings you are looking for. Try to track down the county in which your loved one lived in and then contact an official who lives in that area to find out more.
Listed are indexes and databases designed to help users research Hawaii death notices.
Below is a list of Hawaii newspaper obituaries to aid in genealogical research.
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald of Hilo is a result of the mergers of several local papers. It focuses on local and regional news. Under the "News" heading, readers find "Obituaries." Listed are the most current obituaries, including biographical and service details. Readers may also search the Tribune-Herald for older death notices.
The Honolulu Advertiser is Hawaii's largest newspaper. From the homepage, select "Local News," under which is "Obituaries." Obituaries from the past several weeks are listed, with the most current appearing at the top. You may also search for obituaries less than sixty days old and in archives for those from 1999 to present.
Kauai Garden Island News has a thorough Obituary feature. Listed are the last two months' death notices, which readers may view by double-clicking on the appropriate name. Also provided is search feature which allows readers to locate past obituaries by name and/or date. The daily News was first published in 1902.
Covering news important to the community since 1900, Maui News provides easily accessible obituaries containing biographical and funeral service information. One can find this by going to the News' homepage and selecting the Obituaries option at the top. Obituaries dating back several months are listed, with most current notices at the top.
The Molokai Dispatch is a true local paper, covering news of importance to the Molokai community. It takes a local, though, to find the obituaries on the Dispatch's website. With no marked obituary section or search option, one has to look through the Announcements to find death notices.
The voice of the community, West Hawaii Today, features local news and features six days a week. Here you will find obituaries of current and former residents of the island. On the page are the current day's obituaries. A search option allows readers to look for older notices within Today.
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