Working With the Minneapolis Star Tribune Obituary System
I have spent more time than I care to admit navigating the obituary submission process at the Star Tribune. It is not the most complicated system I have encountered, but it has enough quirks that you will want to know what is coming before you start. The newspaper covers the entire Twin Cities metro and much of southern Minnesota, so the volume is high and the expectations from readers are specific. Families want accuracy, the editorial staff wants compliance, and the digital team wants properly formatted XML that does not break their CMS. The paper does not use a single intake form. You can submit through their online portal, email the obituary desk directly, or work through a funeral home that has a relationship with their advertising team. The online path is the most common now, but it requires an account and the right template selection. I learned this the hard way when I tried to submit a obituary for a client's grandmother using the guest book option instead of the standard notice template. The system accepted it, but the layout looked wrong and the editor had to rewrite the metadata before it would run. That cost us two days and a weekend. The submission portal lives at startribune.com/obituaries. You will need to create an account with a valid email address first. The system will ask for the full legal name of the deceased, date of death, age, surviving family members, service details, and a short biographical paragraph. There is also a field for a photograph upload, but the file size limit is strict: 2 MB maximum, JPEG or PNG only, and the image must be at least 400 pixels wide. I have seen smaller images rejected on principle, even though the system did not complain about dimensions at upload time.
Pricing is where things get messy. The base obituary runs about $150 for a standard length notice, which includes up to 20 lines of text and one photograph. Each additional line beyond that is $8. If you want the notice to appear in both the print edition and on the website, you pay the standard rate. If you only want digital placement, the price drops by roughly a third, but you lose the chance for family members to leave condolences on the printed page. Some people do not realize this until after the fact, so I always recommend confirming the distribution list before you click submit. Turnaround time is usually 24 to 48 hours during regular business cycles, but it stretches to 72 hours over weekends and holidays. The paper prints Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday being the largest obituary section. If your submission comes in late Thursday, it might not run until the Monday edition, depending on how full the backlog is. I once had a case where a death occurred on a Friday evening and the family wanted the notice in the Saturday paper. The editor said it was technically possible if we got the files to her before 2 PM Saturday, but she needed a supervisor approval because of the overtime. We made the deadline, but barely.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
The most frequent problem I see is incomplete survivor lists. The Star Tribune requires at least one immediate family member to be named, but many submitters only list a spouse without including children, parents, or siblings. This is not a policy violation, but it often leads to follow-up questions that delay publication. The editorial staff prefers to have the full picture upfront rather than playing phone tag with grieving families. Another issue is incorrect dates. I have noticed that people often confuse the date of death with the date of burial or the date of cremation. The obituary should only contain the date of death in the opening paragraph. Service details come later in a separate section. Mixing these up causes confusion and sometimes embarrassment for the family, especially when the wrong location ends up in print. The photograph requirement is another trap. Many funeral homes send low-resolution images taken with phone cameras. The Star Tribune expects professional quality, but they do not require it. A clear, well-lit smartphone photo can work if it meets the minimum pixel dimensions. However, the paper reserves the right to reject any image that looks pixelated or poorly composed, so it is better to submit a decent photo from the start than to risk a delay while someone goes back to fix it.
Get the Full Details
There is also a question about religious content. The paper accepts obituaries with explicit religious language, but they prefer a neutral tone in the biographical paragraph. The service section can include church names and pastoral details, but the main text should stay factual. I have seen submissions pulled because the bio paragraph read more like a sermon than a life summary. This is subjective, so if you are unsure, ask the editor before submitting.
What Happens After You Submit
Once you submit, you will receive an automated confirmation email within five minutes. This email includes a tracking number and the expected run date. The editorial team reviews every submission for typos, factual errors, and compliance with their style guide. They do not edit for tone or content preference, so if you write something awkward, it will run as-is unless it violates their policies. Proofreading is your responsibility. The Star Tribune will not send you a draft for approval before publication, so you need to catch errors yourself. I always recommend having two family members review the notice separately, then comparing their notes. This catches mistakes that a single reader might miss, especially with names and dates. If there is a problem, the editor will call the contact number you provided. This usually happens within 24 hours of submission. If you do not answer, they leave a voicemail and resubmit the notice without the problematic element. This has happened to me several times, and it is usually for missing information rather than errors. The system is designed to prioritize publication over perfection, which is fair in most cases.
Alternatives and When to Use Them
If the Star Tribune timeline does not work for your family, there are other options. The Pioneer Press in St. Paul has a similar process with slightly different pricing. The Patch network covers individual neighborhoods and publishes faster, usually within 12 hours. Local radio stations sometimes run obituaries as well, though the reach is smaller. I recommend using the Star Tribune when the deceased had strong ties to the Twin Cities area or when the family expects visitors from across the region. The paper's circulation covers enough ground to reach most Minnesota and western Wisconsin readers. For rural communities outside the metro, a local weekly newspaper might be more appropriate, even if the pricing is similar. There is also the question of permanence. The Star Tribune keeps obituaries online indefinitely, but they do not guarantee that the original formatting will remain unchanged. The page may be redesigned, or the image resolution may degrade over time. If preservation is a priority, I suggest downloading the published notice as a PDF and saving it locally, along with any photographs that were included.
A Note on Digital Condolences
The online obituary page includes a guest book feature where friends and family can leave messages. This is separate from the printed notice and does not affect publication. The messages are moderated by the editorial team, who remove anything that appears spammy or inappropriate. I have seen heartfelt tributes from people who barely knew the deceased but wanted to share a memory, and I have seen arguments break out between distant relatives. The system does not mediate, so if you expect conflict, it may be wise to keep the guest book closed or to moderate responses carefully. The Star Tribune does not charge extra for guest book access, but they do require an account to post. This prevents anonymous comments, which reduces trolling but also limits participation from people who do not want to create profiles. Some families find this acceptable, while others prefer the open nature of social media memorial pages. There is no right answer, only what fits your situation. If you need help with the submission process, the obituary desk can be reached at 612-673-4400 during business hours, Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM Central Time. They are generally helpful, but response times vary depending on how busy the desk is. Do not expect instant answers, especially during peak seasons like winter holidays when death notices spike.
