Stanley

Obituaries can offer historical facts and a glimpse into the life of a deceased person. Genealogists, historians, authors and everyday people have come to rely on these documents for a variety of research purposes. Starting at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 20, noted author and journalist Mary Kay Shanley will present “The Obituary — Yours or Someone Else’s” at this month’s History on Third Thursday program, held at Grimes Farm and Conservation Center.

Shanley will chronicle the evolution of the obituary, which began in the 19th century as a way for reporters to document the life stories of prominent people, soldiers and public servants. An overview of 20th and 21st century obituary writing will showcase how the concept of the obituary came to encompass the life stories of regular people — “common man obits” — with them now generally written by friends or family of the decedent, and not by professional writers.

“People who come to this program want to see how obituaries used to be and how they evolved,” Shanley said. “I remember starting work out of college in the 1960s at a newspaper in Des Moines — in those days female reporters wrote society and club news while men wrote the weather, police blotter and obituaries — and the obituaries were ‘prescriptive’ and had to contain certain information. Now funeral homes offer a template, and people can even write their own obituary in advance. It’s become not as much hard, factual material and more of a story of a person’s journey.”

Historical Society of Marshall County (HSMC) Administrator Michelle Roseburrough said she was happy to have Shanley present on this topic after her presentation for July was canceled due to the tornado.

“Shanley was supposed to have given her program on the Iowa State Fair for History on Third Thursday on July 19, but the tornado happened instead, so we’re excited to finally get to meet her,” Roseburrough said. “We are really grateful to be able to hold the program at Grimes Farm, as we won’t have our own facility for the foreseeable future.”

Free and open to the public, the program will teach attendees how to write an obituary and understand what types of information to include, with time at the end of the program for people to do some writing of their own. Light refreshments will be served.

Shanley is the author of 11 books, and is currently working on a memoir entitled “The Women Who Had Me.”

“The topic of obituaries is particularly pertinent to us, whether we’re helping with genealogy research or general historical topic research. There is so much information to be found in that snapshot of a person’s life,” Roseburrough said.

Shanley will return to Marshalltown at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 15 to present her “The Magic of Our Memories” program, at a location to be determined.

The Historical Society of Marshall County has received funding from Humanities Iowa, a private, non-profit state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, to host this presentation. A cultural resource for Iowans since 1971, Humanities Iowa offers many cultural and historical programs and grants to Iowa’s communities. If you are a person with a disability who requires special assistance, please call the HSMC in advance at 641-752-6664.

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at

(641) 753-6611 or sjordan@timesrepublican.com