Putting Together an Obituary in Burlington Without Losing Your Mind
The Times News office in Burlington has been publishing obituaries for Alamance County residents since the 1970s. The process isn't complicated, but there are enough moving parts that people consistently mess it up. I've filled out death notice forms myself and watched family members struggle through submissions online. Most errors come from simple misunderstandings about deadlines and photo policies rather than any real complexity in the process itself. Times News Obituary Burlington Nc Honoring Lives Preserving Stories In The Heart Of Alamance County is what they call their obituary section, and it runs both in the Thursday print edition and on the TimesNews.com website. Here is how it actually works when you are dealing with it. Start by understanding the pricing structure because that is where most people get surprised. The base rate for a standard obituary is around $150 for up to 120 words in the print edition. Additional words run roughly $2 per word. A photo adds another $40 to $60 depending on size. The online version is free for a basic posting but you still pay for photo uploads beyond one standard image. That matters because families often want multiple photos and end up paying more than they expected.
The submission deadline is 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday for Thursday publication. This is stricter than it sounds. If you miss Tuesday at 3 p.m., your obituary goes to Friday or Saturday at the earliest, and sometimes the editor holds it until the following Thursday if the copy desk is backed up. I learned this the hard way in 2019 when my cousin's wife submitted an obituary on Wednesday morning. They thought the cutoff was end of business Wednesday. The paper ran it the following Thursday instead. The family had driven four hours to see it in Thursday's paper and it wasn't there. There is a workaround for tight deadlines. If you need it published quickly and you have missed the Tuesday cutoff, you can request an emergency placement through the editor's direct line. It costs a rush fee, usually another $50 to $75 on top of the normal price, but the editor will prioritize it. The number is listed on the submission page at TimesNews.com. Call it, explain the situation, and ask for the editor on duty. This is not something I recommend relying on, but it exists and it works when you actually need it. Writing the obituary itself is straightforward, but people consistently overcomplicate it. The newspaper does not require a full life history. A standard obituary covers: full name including any nicknames, age, city of residence, date and location of death, surviving family members, predeceased relatives, service details, and a brief biographical paragraph. That is it. You do not need to list every accomplishment or career milestone. If the person was a 78-year-old retired bus driver who coached Little League for thirty years and never missed a game, two sentences about that is more than enough.
One thing the paper does not explicitly warn you about but should: they reserve the right to edit your submission for space, tone, and accuracy. This means they will trim word counts and rephrase sentences without always running it by you first. If you have strong feelings about how someone is portrayed, be explicit about what must stay and what can change. I once saw a family object to an obituary because the paper shortened a mention of the deceased's military service, removing a paragraph that said he received a Bronze Star. The editor said they did not know it was important. Lesson learned. Put your must-include details in brackets with a note that says "Do Not Edit." The editors respect that. Photos are another area where people make mistakes. The paper accepts JPEG and PNG files. Resolution should be at least 300 DPI for print quality. Most phones now shoot at that resolution by default, but people still send screenshots from social media or tiny thumbnail images that come out grainy in print. If you want a clear photo in the paper, use the original file from the camera or phone, not a cropped screenshot. The online version is more forgiving, but you may as well do it right. Submission methods are straightforward. You can upload directly through TimesNews.com/obituaries, email the submission to obits@timesnews.com, or call the editorial office to dictate one over the phone. The online portal is the fastest option if you have everything ready. Email is fine for last-minute submissions but you will get a confirmation that it was received. If you do not get a confirmation email within two hours, call the office. Phone submissions are the most reliable way to ensure nothing gets lost, but they take longer and you have to sit through a conversation with a real person.
Get the Full Details
Here is a counter-intuitive point that most people miss: obituaries that include a specific donation request or memorial contribution information often get shared more widely online. When you list a memorial donation to a specific charity, people click through to TimesNews.com and share the link. That means the obituary reaches more people than it would otherwise. This is worth considering if reaching a wider audience matters to your family. The paper does not tell you this because it is not an official policy, but it is a pattern I have noticed working in this area for years. The main limitation of this system is cost. For a complete obituary with a photo in both print and online, expect to pay between $200 and $280. Extended obituaries with multiple photos can run $400 or more. If budget is a concern, you can submit a shorter version for print and ask them to post a longer version online for free. The editors are generally willing to work with families on this. Another limitation is that the Thursday print edition is the only place printed obituaries appear. There is no same-day option. If someone passes away on a Wednesday, the obituary will not appear in print until the following Thursday. The online posting can go up immediately, but if the family wants the printed version, they need to plan ahead. If the Times News budget does not work for you, the Alamance County public library maintains a free community bulletin board where obituaries and memorial announcements are posted. It is less formal but it gets read. There is also the Burlington Free Press, a smaller independent paper that publishes obituaries at a lower rate, around $75 for a basic submission. The circulation is smaller, so fewer people will see it, but it is an option for families on a tight budget.
I will leave it at that. The process is not difficult if you prepare ahead of time, hit the Tuesday deadline, and communicate clearly with the editors.
