I recently posted about the passing of my last-surviving aunt. We’ve now returned from traveling to her funeral. It was a joy to see family and friends and celebrate her long life. However her obituary gave me pause.

I’ve always placed great confidence in obituaries as a reliable source for facts about a person’s life. Before this weekend, I would have given a published obituary more credence than most other references.

I assume my aunt’s obit was written by her two children, my cousins, who have always lived near her. They are well-educated, professional people. My aunt would have celebrated her 96^th birthday in a few months so her death was not unanticipated, nor the funeral arrangements rushed. The service was scheduled eight days after her death to allow time for grandchildren to travel from neighboring states—plenty of time to double-check the facts in her obituary. Didn’t anyone else recognize that she and my uncle married in 1942, not 1947 as stated in the obituary? I was present when they celebrated their 40^th wedding anniversary—in 1982! If they’d truly married in 1947, their two children would be illegitimate. Didn’t anyone see the glaring mistake?

And my uncle died in 1994, not 1993 as the obit stated. I attended his funeral, too, and I clearly remember the timing because of other events that year.

Maybe these were just typographical errors, I theorized, and I waited for the minister to clarify the correct dates when the obituary was read verbatim during the funeral. No, again I heard 1947 and 1993. The obituary on the funeral home’s website still reflects the bad information.

Cemeteries have moved up in importance based on this experience. I’m happy to report my aunt and uncle’s joint headstone records correct dates including their marriage.