I am attempting to find an obituary or death notice for William
Meagher (also went by Bill). Last known residence Belvidere, Illinois.
Approximately 60-65 years old. I do not have a date of death, but my
family believes he would have died within the past six months. There
is a William Meagher listed in the SSDI who *might* fit the bill, but
we're not certain it's the same man (DOB for this person is 5 May 1940
DOD: 19 Sept 2002).

I've searched a few newspaper indexes, but haven't found any obits for
a William Meagher. I'm hoping some of the researchers have access to
better sources than I do.

I've done some web searching and this is the one record that I'm sure
of being the same individual:
http://www.elections.state.il.us/ElecInfo/pages/downloads%5Cpdf%5Cdemyb2000.pdf

Thanks. If you need additional information, just ask.

Regards,
luciaphile-ga

12-28-2002

Please explain why you want the obituary notice.

Belvidere is located in Boone County Illinois.  You may want to
contact the www.idapubliclibrary.org website to ask the librarian
there to give you the name of the main local newspaper that is
published there so you will know where to write to get the obit.  They
may be such a small town that there is no newspaper at all.

If the obit is not available, you should order the death certificate
(for less than $5) from www.vitalchek.com (click on the CHOOSE A
REGION link to select Illinois and they will connect you to the
official State of Illinois website).

SINCERELY,
4keith-ga

4keith-ga,

As much as I appreciate your suggestions, they aren't what I'm looking
for. As a researcher here, I am well aware of the procedures for
obtaining death certificates. I don't want Meagher's death
certificate. I want his obituary. If, that is, one exists. If there is
a death notice/obituary and it's not available online, then a citation
to the obituary would suffice.

I really don't think my motives for asking for a death notice/obituary
or citation thereof is germane to the question--that is, they will not
help a researcher in answering the question. Thank you.

Regards,
luciaphile-ga

luciaphile --

Obituaries for decedents in Belvidere, IL would appear in the Rockford
(IL) Register-Star. The paper does not offer on-line archives access,
but will research obituaries for a small fee.  Here is the relevant
page from the Register-Star's website.

http://www.rrstar.com/localnews/paststories/index.shtml

markj-ga

12-30-2002

On the contrary, your motives ARE germane to the question.  If we knew
exactly what information you want to glean from the obituary notice,
then a researcher WOULD know how to help you find what you are looking
for.  How unusual that you have more clues from the death certificate
than you could ever get from an obit--but if you insist on keeping
your reasons private, then undoubtedly you will not have much luck in
finding what you are supposedly looking for.

Dear 4keith,

As a researcher, I disagree. I can answer the question without knowing
why the customer desires an answer. To press a customer for such
unnecessary information, to my eye, rests somewhere between voyeurism
and harassment.

Dear 4keith:

The customer is asking for the obituary, not *information from the
obituary* although locating the former will satisfy the latter.  It is
of no consequence for a GA Researcher to know why the customer seeks
this information.  Traditionally, obituary notices signal that an
individual is deceased and that clearly appears to be the information
the customer seeks.

From the question:

"I am attempting to find an obituary or death notice for William 
Meagher..."  That looks pretty simple to me as a request for an obit
or a death notice and I believe I correctly interpret the part "If you
need additional information, just ask" as meaning the customer will be
happy to provide all other details about the question's subject that
he/she possesses to aid a GA Researcher in his/her quest for the
information.  I do not interpret it as an invitation to ascertain
personal details about the customer.

I also note with some interest that you are not a Google Answers
Researcher so I have to wonder why you are asking for information from
a customer when you are not authorized to answer questions in this
forum.

Dear 4keith,

Whether you understand it or not, open probing about a questioner's
motives is intrusive, especially in matters such as this. Since,
unfortunately, there is not currently a way in the Google Answers
format to readily distinguish a certified Google Researcher from a
commenter, I would like to request (as a researcher) that you refrain
from such queries because I believe they diminish the objectivity and
value of our service.

I have read a number of your other comments in recent months, and
believe you to be an intelligent and knowledgeable person. But
hectoring questioners is inappropriate. I don't need to stand up for
luciaphile, as this is one of the more experienced, highly
customer-rated Google Researchers working, but, because any comment or
question you post may be seen by others as somehow an "official" part
of our endeavor, I hope, in the future, you will confine your comments
to matters of fact rather than personal inquiry (as Google Researchers
customarily do).

Thanks,

ericynot-ga

As Journalist said: 
"I also note with some interest that you are not a Google Answers
Researcher so I have to wonder why you are asking for information from
a customer when you are not authorized to answer questions in this
Forum."

And from the tone in which you conduct your communications with paying
customers, I would wager your chances at becoming a GA Researcher are
fairly low.

Researcher ericynot-ga noted...

"...unfortunately, there is not currently a way in the Google Answers
format to readily distinguish a certified Google Researcher from a
commenter..."

While "readily" is a debatable term here, GA recently did initiate a
feature to help customers distinguish between Researcher comments and
those from members of  the general public such as 4keith-ga.  As
you'll note in this comment thread, a researcher's handle is
hyperlinked to his/her ratings, while the handle of a non-researcher,
such as 4keith-ga, is siimply displayed as text.

Many commenters provide valuable information on questions and, in
fact, some who started out commenting have later become leading
certified GA researchers, such as pinkfreud.  Other commentors,
unfortunately, have never seemed to master the needed skills --
including people skills -- that might lead to their becoming
researchers.

rico