Working With Obituaries in The Spectrum: A Practical Guide
Obituaries in The Spectrum serve two distinct purposes, and understanding that split is the difference between a notice that actually gets read and one that sits there looking decorative. They honor the deceased by recording specific details about their life, and they inform the community by telling people where to go and when. Most people treat these as interchangeable, which is why so many of them read like generic templates or miss critical logistical information. I've spent years watching families struggle with obituary submissions, and the hardest part is usually not writing the life summary but figuring out what the paper actually requires for publication. The Spectrum operates on a word count system for standard death notices, with optional extended biographical sections available at a higher rate. You need to know which tier you're working within before you start drafting. Here is the straightforward process I recommend. First, gather the essential facts: full legal name, date of birth, date of death, city of residence at time of death, surviving family members, and predeceased relatives if you want them listed. Then decide on the service details — funeral home, visitation times, burial location, and whether a memorial service is planned. After that, you write the biographical section, keeping it tight and factual. Long obituaries don't perform better. They perform more expensive.
The Spectrum accepts obituary submissions through their online portal, by email, or by phone. The online option is the most efficient. You fill out a form, paste your text, and upload any photo you want included. Processing typically takes one to two business days, and you will receive a proof before publication. I always recommend reviewing that proof line by line because once it goes to print, corrections run into hundred-dollar minimums per change. One specific issue I ran into recently involves maiden names and suffixes. A family submitted an obituary for their mother listing only her married name without the maiden name included. The paper's style guide requires both if the person was known by either name in the community. The submission got flagged for review, which delayed publication by a day, and the family missed their preferred run date because of a scheduling conflict with the funeral. The workaround is simple: include both names on the first mention, formatted as "Jane Marie Doe, formerly Smith," and make sure the funeral director has the exact wording before you submit anything. Photo selection matters more than most people expect. The Spectrum runs obituary photos in a fixed column width, usually around 1.5 inches wide. High-resolution headshots work best. Group photos, sunglasses in the picture, or images where the subject is cropped too tightly tend to look bad in print. I once watched a family submit a photo of a man at a fishing trip where his face was barely visible due to distance and lighting. The editor suggested an alternative, they accepted it, and the printed version was noticeably more respectful. The image is part of the notice. Treat it like one.
There are a few things most first-time submitters get wrong about The Spectrum specifically. They charge by the line for basic death notices, not by the word. That means shortening a sentence to save a word might not save you money if the line count stays the same. You optimize for line breaks, not word count. Another detail people miss: The Spectrum has different publication schedules for different editions. The evening edition cuts off submissions earlier in the day than the morning edition. If you need same-day or next-morning publication, you need to know which edition you're targeting and submit well before the deadline. I usually tell people to aim for at least 24 hours before their desired publication date unless there is an emergency. Memorial contributions are another area where mistakes happen. If you want to direct donations to a specific charity, list the full legal name of the organization and include a mailing address or website. Vague references like "donations to a good cause" do not help anyone and look careless. The Spectrum does not verify charity information, so you are responsible for making sure what you publish is accurate and current. Cost structure for reference: a standard death notice in The Spectrum runs approximately $75 to $150 depending on length and edition. Extended obituaries with biographical content and photos run $200 to $400. Extra revisions after proof approval carry additional fees. Funeral homes often have relationships with the paper and can submit on behalf of families, which sometimes speeds up the process but not always at a lower cost. Getting a direct quote from The Spectrum's advertising department before you commit is worth five minutes of your time.
Get the Full Details
The Spectrum also publishes a weekly death notice column that aggregates shorter notices from multiple families. These run in the back section and have stricter length limits, usually around 50 to 75 words. If you are working within those constraints, focus on the facts: name, age, date of death, surviving family, and service information. Skip the biographical narrative. It will not fit, and trying to squeeze it in usually produces text that reads like a spreadsheet row rather than a tribute. If The Spectrum is not the right fit for your needs, local alternative publications and online memorial platforms exist, but they serve different audiences. The Spectrum reaches a specific regional demographic, and that matters if your goal is to inform the community where the deceased actually lived and participated. An online memorial site has different reach and different permanence. Neither is universally better. They are just different tools for different purposes.
