It’s a weird habit, right? You wake up, grab your coffee, and before even checking the weather or the score of last night’s game, you find yourself scrolling through the recent obits.
Honestly, it’s not even about being morbid. Not really. It’s more about connection. Seeing who shaped the world we’re walking around in today and, maybe, catching a glimpse of how a life actually looks when you sum it all up in a few hundred words. This week has been particularly heavy with names that actually mean something to people. We lost pioneers, entertainers, and those "local legends" who never made a headline until today.
Let’s talk about what’s actually happening in the world of recent obits this January.
The Names You Recognize (And the Ones You Should)
Sometimes a name hits the news cycle and it feels like a collective "oh no" across the internet. This month, we've seen a staggering range of losses.
Take Claudette Colvin, who passed away on January 13, 2026, at the age of 86. Now, if you didn't know, she was doing the "Rosa Parks thing" nine months before Rosa Parks. She was a 15-year-old girl who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery. She didn't get the same spotlight at the time—mostly because she was a pregnant teenager and the NAACP felt Parks was a "cleaner" face for the movement—but Colvin was the real deal. Seeing her name in the recent obits is a reminder that history is often written by people who were just tired of being pushed around.
Then there’s the entertainment world. John Forté, the Grammy-nominated producer and rapper known for his work with the Fugees, died at just 50. It’s a shocker. He lived several lives in one: musical prodigy, federal prisoner, and eventually a man whose sentence was commuted by a President.
We also lost Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, at 68. Whether you loved his biting office satire or were put off by his later-year controversies, you can't deny he defined the "cubicle culture" of the 90s and early 2000s.
Recent Notable Losses at a Glance:
- Robert Weir: The Grateful Dead founding member. A massive blow to the jam-band community.
- Erich von Däniken: The Chariots of the Gods? author. He basically birthed the "ancient aliens" genre.
- Elle Simone Scott: The first Black woman on America’s Test Kitchen. She fought a long battle with cancer and left a huge hole in the culinary world.
- Jim McBride: The guy who wrote "Chattahoochee" for Alan Jackson. If you've ever hummed that song, you owe him a thank you.
Why We Care About Local Recent Obits
It’s easy to focus on the celebrities, but the "local" stuff is where the heart is. In the recent obits for smaller towns, you see the real fabric of society.
I was looking at a listing for Carole Ann Lauric from Ohio. She wasn't a movie star, but she was a dental hygienist who started her own company and was "famous for the longest Italian goodbye of all time." You can't make that up. That’s a human life.
Then there’s Harold D. Wann from Kansas. He spent 32 years at a refinery and was in the local Bowling Hall of Fame. These aren't just names; they are the people who held communities together while the rest of us were looking at our phones.
The Science of Why We Read Them
There’s actually a term for this: "death awareness." Psychologists often point out that reading recent obits helps us process our own mortality in a safe way. It’s a "memento mori" for the digital age.
When we see that Louis E. Brus, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, passed away on January 11, we think about the legacy of science. When we see T.K. Carter (the guy from The Thing and Space Jam) died on January 10, we think about our childhood movies.
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It’s a way of saying, "Okay, this happened. What am I doing with my time?"
How to Find Specific Recent Obits
If you're looking for someone specific and keep hitting paywalls or messy search results, here’s how to actually do it without losing your mind.
1. Use Google News, Not Just Search
Regular Google search gives you a lot of "scraping" sites that just steal data. Google News filters for actual journalism. Type the name plus "obituary 2026."
2. Check the "Legacy" and "Find A Grave" Databases
Legacy.com is basically the industry standard. They partner with thousands of newspapers. If a life was recorded, it’s usually there.
3. The Social Media "Memorial" Search
Honestly, Facebook is often faster than a newspaper these days. Searching "In Memory of [Name]" in the Facebook search bar will often lead you to a family-run memorial page with more "real" details than a formal obit.
The Art of Writing One
If you’re the one tasked with writing a tribute for the recent obits section, don’t make it a resume. Nobody cares that your Uncle Joe was a "diligent worker."
Tell us about the time he tried to fix the lawnmower with a spatula. Tell us he hated cilantro but loved bad puns. The best recent obits—the ones that go viral—are the ones that sound like a person talking, not a robot filing a report.
Actionable Tips for Processing Grief and Legacy
Reading the recent obits can be a lot. It’s okay to feel a bit "heavy" after scrolling through a list of lives lost. Here is what you can actually do with that feeling:
- Write a "Living" Note: If seeing a name reminds you of someone you haven't talked to in a year, text them. Right now. Don't wait for them to show up in the recent obits.
- Check Your Own Paperwork: It sounds boring, but ensure your "digital legacy" (passwords, accounts) is settled. It’s the kindest thing you can do for the people you leave behind.
- Support Local Journalism: Most obituaries are published in local papers. Those papers are dying. If you value knowing what's happening in your community, a small subscription goes a long way.
At the end of the day, recent obits aren't just about death. They are a record of how we lived. They remind us that whether you won a Nobel Prize or were just really good at bowling in McPherson, Kansas, your story mattered to someone.