Delta County Obituaries and Death Records

Delta County death records and obituaries are held at the County Clerk's office in Escanaba and go back to 1867. If you need to find a death record for a Delta County resident, this guide covers where to search, what each source holds, and how to get copies. Records are available from the county clerk, the state, and several genealogical databases.

Delta County Clerk Death Records

The Delta County Clerk keeps death records filed in the county. Under MCL 333.2882, Michigan death records are open to the public, so anyone can order a copy. The clerk's office is at 310 Ludington St. in Escanaba. Staff can look up records by name or date and provide certified or plain copies for a fee of around $10.

Death registration in Delta County started under Public Act 194 of 1867, which required statewide death reporting. Records from 1867 through roughly 1952 are also available through free online databases, making Delta County one of the better-documented Upper Peninsula counties for older genealogy work. The clerk's physical files cover all registered deaths in the county, while older records may have gaps due to incomplete early reporting.

The MichiganGenWeb project maintains a Delta County research page at delta.migenweb.org, which includes death indexes and links to other records. It is a good starting point before contacting the clerk directly.

The MichiganGenWeb Delta County page offers death record transcriptions and links to digitized sources. Researchers visiting the site will find indexes compiled by volunteers from local records.

The MichiganGenWeb site covers Delta County death indexes and links to sources held by the Delta County Genealogical Society and FamilySearch.

Michigan State Death Records for Delta County

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) holds certified copies of death certificates statewide. For Delta County deaths, you can order from MDHHS at 517-335-8666. The fee is $34 for the first certified copy and $16 for each extra copy ordered at the same time. You can also order through VitalChek online for a $12.95 service fee on top of the state cost.

For older records, Michiganology GENDIS is free and covers death records from roughly 1897 to 1952. Delta County deaths in this range are indexed and searchable by name. This tool is run by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and is entirely free to use. For records from 1867 forward, FamilySearch has digitized death records for Delta County going up to 2010 in some collections.

Public Act 73 of 2006 limits online access to death record images less than 75 years old. For recent deaths, you must request a copy in person or by mail from the county clerk or the state office.

GENDIS covers Delta County death records from 1897 through 1952 at no cost, making it a strong first stop for genealogy searches in the Upper Peninsula.

Delta County Genealogical Society

The Delta County Genealogical Society was founded in 1981 and has been a key resource for local death record research ever since. The society has compiled death indexes, cemetery records, and obituary collections that are not always available through government channels. Members have transcribed records from local newspapers and cemeteries, filling gaps left by early incomplete state registration.

FamilySearch lists Delta County as having death records from 1867 to 2010 in its Michigan Death Indexes collection. That span covers most of the county's recorded history and is available without creating an account. Searching by the county name and a date range pulls up matching records fast. The FamilySearch wiki at FamilySearch Delta County also lists archives, libraries, and other places where death records are stored locally.

Note: The Delta County Genealogical Society publications are available at the county library in Escanaba and through interlibrary loan for researchers outside the area.

Finding Delta County Obituaries

Local newspapers are the main source for Delta County obituaries going back more than a century. The Daily Press in Escanaba has published death notices for the area for decades. Back issues are held at the Delta County Library and in some cases at the Michigan State Archives in Lansing. The Michigan Archives holds microfilm of many Upper Peninsula newspapers.

Obituaries often contain details not found in official death records. They list survivors by name, give dates and places of birth, note religious affiliations, and sometimes describe work history. For Delta County residents with ties to the iron ore and mining industry, obituaries from the late 1800s and early 1900s can give context that death certificates alone do not provide. The county's Upper Peninsula location means many residents came from Finnish, Scandinavian, and other immigrant families, and local papers often ran multilingual obituary notices.

Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com hold digitized copies of some Escanaba-area papers. Search by the deceased's last name and the county name to narrow results. Many Delta County obituaries from before 1952 are also included in FamilySearch indexed collections.

The Michigan Archives in Lansing holds Upper Peninsula newspaper microfilm that includes Delta County obituaries from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Cities in Delta County

Escanaba is the county seat and largest city in Delta County. None of the cities in Delta County meet the population threshold for individual city pages on this site. Death records for all Delta County residents are handled through the county clerk in Escanaba.

Nearby Counties

Delta County borders several other Upper Peninsula counties. If you are not sure which county recorded a death, check the last known address of the person and file in the correct county.