Online Obituaries vs. Newspaper Obituaries: What Families Want in 2026
When a loved one passes, one of the first tasks families face is letting the world know. For generations, the newspaper obituary was the only option. Today, families have a choice — and an increasing number are choosing digital. Understanding this shift is essential for funeral home professionals who rely on modern funeral home management software to keep pace with evolving family expectations. In this article, we explore how obituary preferences have changed, what families actually want in 2026, and how the right funeral home software — like The Director's Assistant® Web (TDAW®) — helps funeral homes deliver on those expectations. The Obituary in Transition: A Quick History For most of the 20th century, the printed newspaper obituary served a singular, important purpose: it was how communities learned of a death and were invited to mourn together. Newspapers were the information infrastructure of everyday life. But as internet adoption grew through the 2000s and social media t...