Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Florida) Newspaper Obituaries (1987 - Current)
Enter your ancestor's name below and we'll search obituaries to help you learn more.
Tampa Bay Times Obituaries in St. Petersburg, Florida
The Tampa Bay Times online obituaries can help you discover the ancestors you didn't know you had.
Obituaries in the past were once printed in regional and state papers and searching through newspapers often took time and effort. This online data source now spares you all this, as it only takes a few seconds to produce what you need.
Some of the top reasons to explore local obituaries:
- You can find out more about your family's history.
- You can connect with distant family members.
- You can learn about the lives of your ancestors.
- You get access to nearly 150 years of local history.
How to Search Tampa Bay Times Obituary Archives
Finding obituaries is straightforward, whether you're just beginning to explore your roots or you're adding details to a family tree you already have:
Simply enter the last name of that relative and click on the “Search” button to begin.
For more detailed searches, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Enter the first, middle, and last names to get more precise results.
- Step 2: Include a keyword, like a school or town, to narrow down your results.
- Step 3: Exclude certain keywords to filter out unrelated entries.
- Step 4: Adding a range of years can be useful since many people have the same name.
- Step 5: Change how the results are sorted—by best matches, newest, or oldest.
Here are some strategies to help you find the right information:
- Begin with recent ancestors, then work your way back to older ones.
- Try searching by initials, as older obituaries often used them instead of full names.
- If you're looking for information about a female relative, try searching under their married name.
- Consider common misspellings, as names weren't always spelled correctly in older records.
Additional Resources to Consider:
- US newspaper archives
- Records of births and marriages
- Passenger lists
- Government publications
- Social Security Death Index
- Archives focusing on different cultural groups
Start with GenealogyBank to write down the names of your ancestors and go back further in time than you have ever been before. If you need more ideas and instructions, visit GenealogyBank Learning Center.