Dear Editor,
I would like to say, “Thank You” for the service, which The Chronicle provides, of allowing the publication of obituaries FREE.
Being able to honor and remember the deceased in this way is an important and personal narrative of family history that is being recorded, especially when family members are allowed to include details and personal stories about their loved one.
Thank you for recognizing the importance of this vital information that for some does not get printed due to the fact that most newspapers charge a fee, often per word, which can get expensive if you want to include personal details such as in the obituaries printed in The Chronicle.
Often people feel it is their “responsibility” to post an obituary and in not doing so it is intended to make you feel like you are being disrespectful to the one you loved. This is an opportunity for the newspaper because some will pay the fee to have it printed, mainly to fulfill that obligation. Others, of course, will pay it because they can afford to. For those who cannot afford to pay, this policy creates additional grief for them.
The Chronicle’s decision to print local obituaries for FREE, shows they have integrity that other newspapers lack and empathy enough to care, by actually doing something to help the people in their community in the event of the death of a loved one.
Future generations will be delighted to find these “stories” that go along with the dates and statistics about their ancestors in the archives of The Chronicle!
Sandra Dawley
Eugene