Obituaries in Dubois: A Practical Guide for Families and Local Editors
Dubois sits in Idaho County, population around 800. The newspaper here doesn't have an automated obituary submission system. You walk into the office, or call it in, or email it directly to the editor. That's it. There's no template, no online form, no guided wizard. This guide covers what happens when you're actually dealing with an obituary in this town, because the process here is different from what you'd find in a big city paper. The Dubois Journal-Press runs obituaries on a fairly regular schedule. They publish whatever they get, subject to their word limit and their standards. The key thing nobody tells you is that the deadline isn't every day. The editor will tell you the submission days — usually midweek — and if you miss that window, your piece goes to the next available slot. Which could be weeks away depending on how full the section is. I learned this the hard way submitting for a death that happened on a Thursday. Missed the Wednesday cutoff by 12 hours and had to wait another nine days to see it run. By then the funeral had already happened and half the town had read it on a hand-copied note at the post office. Word count matters more here than at major metros. Dubois keeps obits short. If I'm looking at one, I'm expecting maybe 150 to 300 words. Go much beyond that and the editor will start cutting. They won't ask you first. They'll just trim the genealogy section down to the vital names and drop the career biography. Save the detailed CV for the family record, not the paper.
What actually goes into a Dubois obituary
At minimum, you need the full name, age, city of residence, date of death, and a list of surviving family members. That's the baseline. After that, you include the biographical details the family wants — occupation, church affiliation, military service, hobbies, accomplishments. The editor at the Journal-Press tends to prefer the factual approach over the flowery tribute. You don't need to make it poetic. Just accurate. One thing that trips people up: the spelling of names in the family tree. If you list "s survived by his wife Martha, daughter Linda, and son Robert," make sure those are the names you actually want printed. I had a case where the grandkids' names were misspelled across two generations because the person filling out the form didn't double-check with the family. The correction ran in the next issue but by then the funeral home had already handed out printed programs with the wrong spelling. Always verify before submission.
Pricing and payment realities
Dubois is a small market so the rates are low, but they're not free. The Journal-Press charges by the line or by the inch depending on layout. A typical obit runs maybe $50 to $150. They accept cash, check, or card. Payment is due at time of submission. They won't hold your piece in the queue until you pay. Drop off the text and the check, and it goes to the next print run. If you email it, you'll get an invoice and a phone call asking you to pay. You can include a photo. It needs to be a physical print or a high-resolution digital file emailed ahead of time. Newspaper-quality photos from Instagram or a smartphone will look bad in print. The editor will usually tell you this upfront if you send a phone pic, but don't count on it. Use a decent scan or a proper camera image. Same goes for memorial contributions — list the charity or organization, but don't include URLs. The paper doesn't publish links in obits. They'll run the name of the donation cause instead. Here's something most guides miss: the relationship between the obituary and the funeral service. In Dubois especially, these two things are tightly connected because the town is small enough that everyone knows everyone. If the obit mentions a specific church or VFW post, people will assume the service is there. Make sure the details align. I've seen cases where the obit said "service at First Methodist" but the actual service was held at the cemetery with no published location. That creates confusion and hurt feelings, and it's entirely avoidable.
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Pre-planning and advance submissions
Some people choose to write their own obituary ahead of time. The Journal-Press will accept pre-written pieces, though they don't advertise the option. If you want to do this, bring the draft to the office, give them a contact number, and ask them to hold it. They may or may not agree — it's at the editor's discretion. When I've arranged this for older clients, the simplest path is to get the editor's direct phone number, call to confirm the policy, and then leave the manuscript in person with a signed authorization. Paper trail matters more than email in this town. Double-deaths — spouses who pass within days of each other — are the trickiest situation. Some families want both obits in the same issue. That usually works if you submit both at the same time and mark them clearly as related. Others prefer separate dates, and that's fine too. The editor will ask what you want rather than decide for you. Another issue is listing deceased relatives in the "predeceased by" section. Keep it accurate. If someone died in 1998 but the family isn't sure of the exact date, it's better to say "years ago" or omit the line entirely than to guess and be wrong. Corrections after publication cost money and damage credibility. A missed name or wrong date in a small paper stays in print indefinitely. People in Dubois talk, and they remember.
The obituary process in a place like Dubois is straightforward if you treat it as a practical transaction rather than a ceremonial moment. Get the facts right, meet the deadline, pay on time, and keep it concise. That's all it takes to make sure the notice runs cleanly and the family gets what they need from it.
