HOT PURSUIT

For the past several years we have taken on a special project in which we pay special tribute to those loved ones who have gone on before us. It’s called “Forever Loved: In Memoriam Tributes” and it is featured in this week’s second section.

In this section, we run every photo that was shared with us by families throughout the past year for their loved one’s obituary. Last year we published 278 obituaries. Obviously, not everyone’s obituary appears in the newspaper. So, we also include all names of those who died as reported to the Minnesota Department of Health from their death certificates.

It’s interesting to look at the state’s death report as much information can be gleaned from it. In Steele and Dodge counties, there were eight people who made the centurion club before passing away in 2023. Two of them lived to be 106 years old. Marie Paulsen died Dec. 23 at Benedictine Living in Owatonna while Mary Jacobson died Nov. 28 at Medford Senior Care.  

There is a good snapshot of the person’s life included on the report. Among the information is the person’s birth, birthplace, education, occupation, where they died, funeral home involved, what cemetery they are buried at, spouse’s info and perhaps most interesting, the cause of death and how long they had been battling.

Some of the more common causes of death were severe sepsis, dementia, congestive heart failure, cardiac arrest, suicide, various types of cancer, strokes and liver failure. Overdoses seemed to be a problem along with mental health. Some died immediately, others fought for only seconds, minutes or hours while many faced battles for years.

Behind every death is a portrait of a life lived. Everyone has a unique life story. It’s the reason why we publish this section. We believe when someone dies, the grief doesn’t subside by forgetting. People get through their grief by remembering. We hope our tribute will help families as a way to pay tribute to their loved ones.

This section also hits home for me this year as my dad is featured in October. While he lived a long life of 89 years, it still is difficult to deal with the loss. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about dad and what he meant to our family.

Our tribute also is a good time to remind people about the importance of creating an obituary for when the time comes. Lives are worth remembering and they allow us to learn about others. Besides providing funeral service details, obituaries are longer profiles of the person meant to celebrate their life and achievements. They honor their memory and are an important way to share information about a loved one’s death.

Obituaries can also be critical for doing family history down the road. I can’t tell you how many times folks have sought out our old, archived newspapers to look up deaths of family members from decades ago.

While death is a tough topic for many people, we hope our tribute shares love, respect and admiration for your loved one.

Death certainly isn’t our favorite thing to write about, but going in hot pursuit of paying tribute to lives lost is a step toward healing for all of us.