What does this information mean to a genealogist?

Question

I found a website on the information for my father's passing (he was a big part of my life, so there is no mystery as to who he was, where he is buried and date, etc.) but I am a little confused as to what the information means.

SURNAME: <his last name> FIRST NAME: MIDDLE NAME: <those are only common sense> BIRTH: DEATH: <the dates of when he lived>, but what I DON'T UNDERSTAND are the BURIAL: BLOCK: SP: M: FUNERAL HOME: <I know that this is the funeral home that provided his services> COMMENT:

What are the BURIAL, BLOCK, SP, M and Comment and why are they important? Can anyone who is doing a family tree project contact a funeral home and gain access to someone's records? Are these records something that are fee-based through the funeral home?

Any help you could give would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I was trying to find a tombstone for a complete stranger ( I volunteer to do lookups in my county) I just called my county building, asked for cemetary records of the name I had) and she gave me the exact location of the grave site. She also told me that their was 2 other family plots right next to it and gave me the names.

Answer 2

The block and SP are probably his grave&#039;s exact location within the cemetery, or his niche if his ashes are in one of those big monuments with many separate compartments for people&#039;s ashes. (There is a name for them which escapes me.) Anyway, if you took the description to the cemetery, the caretaker could direct you to his final resting place.

Funeral homes often have more data. They may have

a copy of his obituary,

his parents&#039; names,

his spouse&#039;s name

His children&#039;s names

His birthplace

The cemetery will know who paid for the plot, which is often a clue to his child, parents or parents-in-law.

&quot;Comment&quot; is generally something additional on records. In this case it looks like no one filled it out, but they left the heading. If you are looking at a cemetery listing, it could be something extra written on his tombstone; &quot;101st Division, WWII&quot; or &quot;RIP&quot; or &quot;Father&quot; or &quot;Husband of Mary&quot;. If it is a genealogical record, it could be almost anything from a one line &quot;Occupation: Banker&quot; to a 4,000-word biography.

Funeral homes tend to be close-mouthed about people who have died recently, to keep widows from being preyed upon by confidence men, among other things. If someone has died more than 25 - 30 years ago, they can be quite helpful. I called two when I was doing a family tree for my daughter&#039;s friend. I told both I wasn&#039;t related right at the start. The people I was asking about died in the 1950&#039;s. They gave me what they had over the telephone, for free.