Obit City is a labor of love. It's easy to feel nearly overwhelmed by the sheer number of obituaries out there. New ones keep coming in each and every day. For every obit we process, there is a family that is feeling genuine loss. But publishing the obituaries and allowing people to read about the lives of people, real people who made a difference in their families and communities, can also be joyous.
This site began with just a few obits. It seemed like a good idea to share them with others in an online format. Nobody had any way of knowing how successful the site would become, and how many people would find it helpful.
In the spirit of social networking, Obit City is a way to help people make connections via the Internet. Our tagline, "Social Networking for the Dead", is fairly accurate. Of course, whatever networking the deceased may be doing isn't happening on this plane of existence; however, their living loved ones certainly are online seeking further information about them. This is a way for people to get together and share information about the dearly departed. Obit City is not just a website, but an online community.
The obits are typed by one person, who now pretty much has worn-out spots where her fingertips used to be. Try typing that many obits and see how you feel about it. Occasionally, the "we" on this site refers to the imperial "we" of the typist. It is now 3:25 in the morning, and we have been typing obits for hours. But this site wouldn't be what it is without networking. Sometimes, "we" can also mean all of us--you, me, everyone. Obit City is, at this writing, an Arkansas-based company that later relocated to Florida, but its focus is nationwide.
Obit City's living residents are some fairly diverse people. Send us e-mail, and you might hear from Shannon, our resident "death lady". She has collected obits and cemetery data for decades. She cares deeply about the people whose data she's collecting, but that doesn't mean that she's not without a bent sense of humor. This can be a rather freewheeling crew, and we want the site to reflect that light-hearted approach while still retaining a modicum of dignity. We are dealing with death, which can be obviously sad and painful for the survivors. But we also have the blessing of memory. For the ability to remember the good times, we're grateful.
