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In The Ridgefield Press, an obituary is a news story about a person who has died. The text is written -- or at least, edited -- by the staff, based on information supplied by the family, funeral home, our files, interviews, and other sources. While we will use the information supplied by the family, we usually rewrite submitted obituaries, at least to some degree.
The Ridgefield Press carries obituaries of anyone who lived in town at the time of death or who once lived in town -- no matter how long ago. We will also publish abbreviated obituaries of residents' parents, siblings and children who have not lived here, and of people who worked in Ridgefield but did not live here. We don't run obituaries of aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, etc., who never lived here.
For relatives who never lived here, we will publish an obituary that includes basic biographical information, as well as lists any survivors who live in Ridgefield or have lived in Ridgefield. We will not list the names and places of residence of survivors who have never lived here. Thus, for instance, an obituary of a Ridgefielder's parent, who lived in Ohio, would include as named survivors only the Ridgefielder (son or daughter) and the Ridgefielder's children (grandchildren of the person who died). We would note that survivors also include five daughters, two sons, four brothers, three sisters, etc, but would not give all their names and places of residence. Space constraints force us to impose these restrictions.
Yes. For instance, in an obituary of John Smith of Ridgefield, we could write: "Mr. Smith is survived by a daughter, Mary Jones, and her husband, John, of Fitchburg, Mass., and a son, Joseph, and his wife, Joan, of Westport..." It is up to the family members whether they want to list spouses.
Yes, if the person lived in Ridgefield at some time. In fact, we encourage you to submit a photo because a picture helps make the obituary more human and allows more people to recognize the person who died. (Often, we know people by the faces, but not their names -- the man we greet at the supermarket each week, the woman who walks her dog along our road, etc.) Photos should be clear and sharp, not too dark or light. They may be recent or from some time ago; if it is an old photo, please give the approximate year. Except in very unusual circumstances, we use only the head-and-shoulders view of a person -- the typical portrait-style picture. However, that head-and-shoulders view may come from a photo that has several people in it; we can crop out the others.
No. The online obituaries are limited to Ridgefielders -- people who lived here at some point in their lives. They are placed online automatically and at no charge.
Yes, but remember that we may need to edit information into a format or style that is typical of a newspaper news story. See next question.
Here are some things to include in an obituary:
We do not charge for obituaries of residents, former residents, direct relatives of residents, or people who used to work in Ridgefield.
Paid notices for deaths are very rare in our newspaper. However, a paid obituary notice could be used if the person who died did not live here, had no family here, but did business here; for instance, an insurance agent whose office was in Danbury or a plumbing contractor from Norwalk who did work here. To place a paid obituary, call the Press at 438-6544 and ask for the legal notices department. The fee for paid notices is small -- usually around $10.
Usually, the funeral home will submit an obituary for you. However, you may
submit an obituary yourself by e-mail to newsroom@acorn-online.com,
by fax to 203-438-6097, by postal mail or FedEx to 16 Bailey Avenue, Ridgefield
CT 06877, or by telephone, 203-438-6544. The best method is e-mail since it
eliminates the need to retype information, introducing the chance of
typographical errors. We can accept Microsoft Word files, RTF files, plain text,
or just an e-mail with the information typed into it. Always include your full name, address and a daytime
telephone number where we can easily reach you for confirmation and questions. Without
the phone number, we will not publish the obituary.
While photos may be submitted electronically, we recommend that you give us an
original picture to scan. If you prefer an electronic submission, please scan at
150 dots per inch and e-mail the image as a .JPG file. However, we sometimes
have difficulty with images that are e-mailed, and can't guarantee they will be
usable.
The Ridgefield Press is a weekly newspaper that arrives in homes Thursdays
(except in a few cases of major midweek holidays such as Fourth of July,
Christmas or Thanksgiving). The obituary page is put together Wednesdays around
2 p.m.; thus we must receive the obituary before that. The earlier we receive
the information, the more attention we can devote to it. If you will be
submitting a last-minute obituary, please try to warn us as much in advance as
possible so we can plan for space and for staff time.
For obituary information, call 203-438-1183 ext. 124. If it's after hours,
please leave a message.
We are happy to have someone from the family "proof" the obituary, if possible. However, any changes must reach us by the deadline (above). Call 203-438-1183 x124 with questions.