I just found out a friend passed away over a year ago and I was never informed...How would I go about finding out what happened?

Option 1 - Newpaper Online Even the smallest newspapers are posted online, and obits are almost always in them. The newspaper in Superior (the main one, at least), appears to be superiortelegram.com/ The Superior Telegram. The obituaries are posted at superiortelegram.com/event/obituaries/group/Obituaries/ here.In the top right hand corner there is a date picker.

It does seem to go back to August 2008, so I'd start at the date of his death (if you know it) and work forwards. The older ones are a little more incomplete but you might find something - looks like there are some links to other websites. This should give you SOME sort of information to at least get you started.

Option 2 - Libraries Libraries almost always keep old copies of newspapers. If you have a large library in your area it's possible they will carry the Superior Telegram and you can have a look through. If not, contact the library in Superior.

I'd write to them telling them your looking for an obituary around (date) for (person), and see if they are willing to help you. Try all of the libraries in the area if one won't do it - you could also try seeing if your local library would be helpful with the request, as sometimes business to business is a little more willing to do something like that then if you called yourself. Option 3 - Funeral Homes Look in the yellow pages for ALL funeral homes in the area.

Sift through these and see what's applicable http://www.yellowpages.com/Superior-WI/Funeral-Directors?search_terms=Funeral+Homes link. Check their websites, most have either guest books or some sort of record online for years after. If you find a name but no info, try calling them.

Option 4 - Death records Death records are public information. I don't know how much info they have on them, but see if you can get your hands on his. http://www.ancestry.ca/search/rectype/default.aspx?rt=34 give this a try (not sure if you need an account).. If you are having trouble, again, your local library is a great resource.

Option 5 - Facebook People frequently make "RIP (name)" groups. See if you can find anything. Option 6 - Police reports I know around here, the police websites carry a news feed of police reports going up - anything the police were involved in.

They don't always keep history, but it might be worth a look. If you don't get an exact reason, at least ONE of these will have names of friends or family, whether it is the funeral home guest book, or the obit.Do you know where he worked- contacting them may also lead to answers. Check local listings to find these people, and call them.

Facebook can also help you find people, or http://www.spock.com. Good luck, and sorry for your loss. I know death information can be tricky to find at times, but with enough digging you should be able to find at least a name of someone willing to help you.

Unless they were someone well known, at least in their local community, I doubt you'd find an obituary online. I would think your best bet is to find mutual friends, or his other family members, and ask them. If you explain that you just found out, I would think most people would be glad to help.

You may be able to discover other of their friends from social networking sites. Sorry to hear you've lost someone you cared about. I do have friends that I only communicate with occasionally, and I have wondered if I'd even find out if something ever happened to them.

I think I know what you want to know. The easiest bet is to talk to someone that knew him pretty well but wasn't in the family, as you mentioned that they would not be willing to talk to you. Death certificates have technical cause of death, but that's not what you want to know.

Obtaining police records are very shady and the ones that provide actual information require a court order. I would go on Facebook or some other social networking site and casually talk to friends. Be discrete about it, of course.

I would recommend going to the county that he lived in, and finding the Superior Court Clerk. Do a records search for his name there. Also, you can find the police department that handles the location where he died, try his house first, and do an open records search with them.

Then, I would go to the Coroner's Office (or maybe county Health Department) and get a death certificate and find out the listed reason of death.

I believe that you could go to a Library and look up the information in their Newspapers. I am sure someone could assist you. Do you have any idea as to a family members name or address that you could send a letter to maybe?

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.