A notice tied to Matt Boldy lays out the rules for publishing obituaries, including how the Pioneer Press verifies a death, checks the copy and takes payment before anything appears in print.
The paper says it requires the name and phone number of the funeral home or cremation society handling the arrangements, or a death certificate, to verify the death. Only one of those options is needed. It will then fax or email a proof for review before publication.
The notice also says pre-payment is required for all obituary notices. Credit card payment is accepted by phone only because of PCI regulations, while EFT payment by check by phone requires a routing number and account number. For one deadline, the paper must receive obituary content and payment the same day by 3:45 PM; for another, the cutoff is 1:30 PM.
Those steps make the process more like a controlled transaction than a simple submission, with verification and payment locked in before the obituary can run. The notice also says memoriam submissions are remembrances of a loved one who has passed, and that their rates differ from obituary notices.
The most immediate detail for families is the deadline clock. If the content and payment do not land by the stated time, the obituary does not move forward on that schedule.
