| Parental Consent

Free obituaries in The Island Packet

Local obituaries of 250 words or less are published in the news section. The deadline for next-day publication is 6 p.m. We do not hold items unless we have questions or they were received too late in the evening.

We run only local obituaries, so there must be a southern Beaufort County connection, such as Hilton Head Island, Bluffton or Okatie. The Packet typically runs obituaries for current or previous residents or those listing local survivors. (We generally do not run northern Beaufort County or Jasper County obituaries.)

Information must be confirmed by an outside source. We cannot take obituaries from family members. We prefer the obituaries to be sent directly from the funeral home, via fax or e-mail. We also prefer to receive obituaries by e-mail, at newsroom@islandpacket.com. We do not use photographs.

Obituaries are edited to match local and Associated Press style. We use the following information:

Name, age, place of residency and date of death.
Birth date, place of birth and names of parents.
Area of origin and education.
Professional history and awards.
Clubs and hobbies.
Survivors.
Funeral information.
Memorial information.
Name of funeral home handling arrangements.

We have a very straightforward style of presentation. For example, we do not print the names of pets in the listing of survivors. We ask families to carefully review an obituary for length and conformity to the style described above before submitting it.

Family members who prefer a longer obituary, a photograph of the deceased accompanying the obituary or a different style may contact the advertising department about publishing an obituary as a paid ad. There is a special discounted rate for families who wish to print expanded obituaries. For details, call Alex Barry in advertising at (843) 706-8157.

If family members have any more questions about the free obituaries printed in the news section, they may call the newsroom at (843) 706-8111.