Writing and Submitting Obituaries Through Star Gazette
Most people don't think much about how obituary submissions work until they have to do it. Star Gazette has been running local memorial notices for decades, and while the process seems straightforward on the surface, there are a few practical details that trip people up if you aren't prepared. I've helped several families navigate this over the years, mostly because the online forms don't always make the requirements obvious. The big one is length. Standard obituaries run about 200 to 400 words. Go much beyond that and you're paying per-word overages that add up fast, especially if you're including extended family lists or detailed life summaries. I once had a family submit a draft that was nearly 1,200 words. We cut it down to 380 by removing redundant church involvement mentions and keeping only the most significant career milestones. They were surprised at how much cleaner the final version read anyway.
Star Gazette Obits Honoring Lives Preserving Stories In Memorial Notices
The submission portal accepts text entries directly, and they also accept PDFs or Word documents attached to emails. Their editorial team will do a light edit for grammar and flow, but they won't rewrite your piece. That means getting the draft right before you submit saves everyone time. I usually recommend writing the first version without worrying about length, then stripping it down to essentials in a second pass. Photographs are another area where people make mistakes. They need to be high resolution—at least 300 DPI—and in a common format like JPG or PNG. I've seen families send phone screenshots or low-res images that just won't print clearly. If you're pulling a photo from an old social media account, download the original file rather than using whatever preview image the platform shows. The difference in print quality is noticeable. Timing matters more than most people realize. If the obituary runs the day of or the day after death, you're working under pressure and likely dealing with basic logistics. Getting it submitted within three to five days of passing gives the paper enough lead time to schedule it properly and reduces the chance of errors slipping through. Their standard turnaround is about 24 to 48 hours from submission to publication, but submitting during the weekend can sometimes push that to Monday or Tuesday depending on staffing.
Pricing structure is tiered. A basic notice with a short bio and one photo runs around $150 to $250 depending on the column width you choose. Adding more photos, expanding the word count, or choosing a larger display area will increase the cost. They occasionally run promotional rates, so it's worth asking when you call or email to place the notice. I've seen savings of 20 to 30 percent during certain months. The contact route depends on what you're comfortable with. You can call their newsroom directly, which gets you a live person and lets you sort out details in real time. Email works fine for the initial submission, but follow up with a call to confirm receipt. I've had situations where an email submission got buried because the formatter was out sick and the family didn't realize it wasn't moving through the queue. A quick phone call resolves that in about five minutes. One thing that isn't always clear: you can often include a link to a digital memorial page or a fundraising site within the obituary body. This is useful if the family wants to collect flowers, donations, or shared memories in one place. Just make sure the URL is clean and tested before you submit. Broken links in print don't matter, but they can look careless if someone does look up the reference online.
Get the Full Details
If you end up needing a template to get started, they have basic formats available on their website or you can ask the staff to walk you through one when you call. The key is deciding early what you want to include—surviving family members, service details, biography highlights, and any special requests—then writing it out before you log into whatever submission system they're using that day.
