The Pitfalls of Death Certificates

 As an amateur genealogist, I have studied death certificates in anticipation of adding to my family tree. A few days ago, I realized why it may not always be the best idea to trust the information. As with all documents, verification is necessary. This may be especially true with death certificates. Loved ones are providing details at a time of high stress. Memory lapses can occur all too easily. After the death of both my father and mother this was the case.

 

My dad died unexpectedly. Despite the fact that he was in his mid-eighties and had overcome a myriad of health challenges, the news that he had passed filled my sister and me with great sorrow. We sat in the funeral director’s office as he posed the usual questions for the death certificate. At that point in time, I had constructed an extensive family tree on Ancestry and had visited the gravesites of his great grandparents in Linkinhorne, Cornwall. But when asked for his mother’s maiden name, my sister and I looked at each other blankly. Neither of us had an answer. We had to text a cousin who reminded us it was Bennett. And yes, I had photos of me kneeling in front of a Bennett gravestone in the graveyard of St. Mellor’s Parish Church but my mind was not working properly during that time. I wondered what would have happened if we did not have a cell phone handy for surely our ancestors did not and likely were just as grief-stricken.

 

Fast forward to 2021. My mother’s death was not a surprise. She had been failing for over a year and her final weeks were difficult. Still, when we once again sat in the funeral home, we had no clue if our grandma’s middle name was Lois or Louise. I could see that L, always written with a flourish, but what did it stand for? Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “I’m fairly certain it was Louise.” Fortunately, we finally decided to play it safe and report my mother’s mother’s maiden name as Myrtle L. Richards. When I finally had a chance to look through my paper documents I confirmed her middle name as Lois. Good thing we did not go with our memories!

 

That got me to thinking. What was on my husband’s unique death certificate? He died in Beijing, China, unexpectedly, in 2014 while on government business. He would have loved his rare death certificate, for the original was in Chinese. The Embassy later provided me with a translated, notarized copy, containing none of the usual reporting details. But I did relish in handing that original Chinese death certificate to the Social Security Office and giggled a little as I did so, for I could feel Greg’s laughter. He always liked to be distinctive. But, what might this mean for future genealogists, 200 plus years from now?

 

These vignettes provide a snapshot into the pitfalls of death certificates. We need to remember that those who are reporting the facts of a loved one’s life are dealing with stress and grief. Details may be forgotten or easily confused. Or, as in Greg’s case, information may be missing or even written in a language that is difficult to easily translate. We need to check and doublecheck!