Getting Your Story Into the Philadelphia Inquirer Obituary Section
The Philadelphia Inquirer runs one of the larger metropolitan obituary sections in the country, and getting your notice placed there requires a bit more groundwork than most people expect. The process isn't hard, but the details matter more than you'd think. I've worked with multiple families trying to navigate this over the years, and the biggest mistake I see is people assuming they can just call the newspaper and get it done in ten minutes. That's not how it works. The Inquirer has a dedicated obituary desk that handles submissions, but the workflow is tighter than you'd guess. Here's what actually happens. You start by contacting the Inquirer's obituary department directly. Their main number routes you to staff who can walk you through the submission process. You'll need the full name of the deceased, date of death, a short biographical sketch, and funeral or memorial service details. The standard obituary runs about 150 to 250 words and costs around $200 to $400 depending on length and any accompanying photograph.
If you want to go longer or include more photos, you're looking at different pricing tiers. Extended obituaries that run over 500 words or include multiple images can easily cost upward of $600. The Inquirer also offers online-only obituary placements which run cheaper, sometimes half the price of print, but have different audience reach. One thing most people don't realize: you don't have to place the obituary before the funeral service. In fact, most families wait until after the service to submit. The Inquirer allows submissions up until their daily deadline, which typically closes around 3 PM for next-day publication. That gives you a window of several days after a death to gather everything and submit. I ran into a specific problem a while back where a family had submitted their obituary with incorrect information about the funeral home contact details. The error didn't get caught during their initial proofread, and by the time they noticed it, the piece was already scheduled for print. I had them call the obituary desk immediately, and because they caught it before the daily deadline, they were able to make the correction without any extra charge. Once it goes to print though, corrections are nearly impossible. The lesson here is to verify every single detail before you hit submit. Phone numbers, street addresses, names of surviving family members — double-check them against official documents.
Another counter-intuitive detail: the Inquirer will sometimes publish shorter notices for free if the deceased had a direct connection to the paper, like working there or being a long-time subscriber. This isn't a guaranteed policy, just something that happens occasionally, and the staff member handling your submission might not volunteer it upfront. It doesn't hurt to ask if there are any eligibility-based discounts available. The photo submission process is another area where things get tricky. The Inquirer accepts digital photos, but they have specific resolution requirements. They want images that are at least 300 DPI and preferably in JPEG or TIFF format. Phone camera photos usually work fine these days, but scanning an old print photo at too low a resolution will get your image rejected. I've seen families waste days waiting for a replacement because they uploaded a pixelated scan that didn't meet standards. There are also timing considerations that trip people up. If you submit an obituary on a Friday afternoon, it likely won't run until Monday's paper due to the weekend. That delay can be frustrating for families who want the notice published quickly. If timing is critical, submit early in the week or specifically ask about Thursday publications, which tend to run over the weekend.
Get the Full Details
For families outside the Philadelphia area who still want coverage, the Inquirer does accept submissions from anywhere. The main complication is coordinating with the funeral director on your end to ensure all the details match what the paper needs. I've had people send me funeral program photos and asked me to draft the obituary for them before submission. That's a completely valid approach, and the Inquirer doesn't care who writes the text as long as it's accurate and appropriate. One more thing worth noting: the Inquirer has been expanding their digital presence significantly, and some families are finding that placing the obituary online first and then submitting a condensed version for print gives them the widest reach. Digital obituaries stay up indefinitely and can include guest books, photo galleries, and links to memorials. The print version serves a different audience — older readers and those who prefer the physical paper — so using both formats strategically makes sense if the budget allows for it.
