In the early 2000s, many newspapers across the nation began the practice of charging for obituaries to be placed in their papers. For older generations, having a loved one’s obituary in the local newspaper was very important. It was the final tribute to someone very special in their lives and allowed a community to hear about the passing and actually mourn with the family.

But by the early 2000s, revenue for newspapers began to decrease and many saw obituaries as an opportunity to make extra money. For newspapers that were still thriving, charging for obituaries was lagniappe on top of their profits.

As the trend began to take off in the newspaper industry, my dad, Sammy Franklin, was one of the few that bucked the system. He refused to charge any money for running obituaries. Only when someone wanted to add an extra-long list of survivors (like including great grands’ names and even pets) or an extremely long biography, was a small extra fee charged.

My dad used to say that running a loved one’s obituary for free is the one thing he could do for a grieving family. He knew they already had many things to worry about during that time, and many couldn’t even afford the funeral itself – much less the extra cost of putting the obituary in the newspaper. It was his way of giving to families during their time of loss – it was the least he could do in his mind.

When we acquired ownership of this newspaper in 2023, we changed many things to bring it up to date. But one thing I was adamant about was that we would not change the policy of running obituaries for free. It’s more than just honoring my dad; it’s about believing in the reasons behind the free admissions. We still want to do this little, small effort in hopes of helping to ease a family’s pain during their difficult time.

When the internet and social media became popular, it seemed that people were content to just announce their loved one’s passing on those sites rather than place them in the newspaper. For a long time, each Monday, our office would search the local funeral home websites for people who had passed from our area and call or email to get their official obituaries sent to our office for publication. Most of the funeral homes had given us permission to just grab them off their website and run in the newspaper – without even having to call them.

Then came a fateful day in late 2023 when we learned that for many years, we had been doing it all wrong. In fact, in some cases, we were flat-out illegal in our practice.

We learned that for a newspaper to print an obituary legally, it must be submitted by the funeral home as requested by the family, or an immediate family member must bring or send the obituary to our office. Newspapers are held to a higher legal standard than social media. In some situations, it makes it tougher on us, like the obituaries; but in other ways, it allows the public to know that because we’re held to a higher standard, the information you read in a newspaper is verified by sources and those in authority, providing readers with trust and accuracy they can’t obtain on social media.

If Daddy would have been around when we found out we couldn’t print obituaries like we had been doing, he probably would have pitched a fit and made a reference to what a crazy world we live in when newspapers can’t print obituaries like they had been doing since newspapers began.

So, today, for us to legally print an obituary, it must be sent to us by the funeral home, or an immediate family member must send it in or bring it to our office.

This leaves us at the mercy of funeral homes (which most are very gracious in performing this task) or the family. But if they don’t send them to us, we can’t put them in the paper.

So, here is my plea for all readers. If you know of someone who passes away, please remind their family to have the funeral home send the obituary to us to run in the newspaper. When a family sits down with a funeral home director immediately following a death to fill out the paperwork, one of the questions that is asked is, “Do you want the obituary sent to the newspaper?” Remind them to say “yes” and tell them your paper of choice is The Jena Times. It’s still a free service we provide.

I know, I know… in this day and age everyone finds out who dies the moment it happens on social media. And that is a good thing as it allows the public to immediately help in ministering to the families.

But I remind all of us that as much as we like those “memory” posts that come up from time to time on our accounts, the internet is still a volatile source and at any moment all those memories could be wiped out by accident or on purpose. We may think it is a “forever” post, but the reality is, it’s not.

But a newspaper is more than just a source of news; it’s an historical account that allows future generations to look back, and for all types of purposes. Whether its research projects, genealogy research or just personal investigation of the past, newspapers are the one source that has and will always be there for verification.

So, please send us those obituaries and allow us to remember your loved one, pray for your family during this grieving process and honor that special family member with class and dignity, just as they deserve, with an official obituary in The Jena Times Olla- Tullos-Urania Signal.

As long as the Franklin name is associated with this independent newspaper, we’ll continue to offer the recognition free of charge.