Deceased Sibling - Looking for Information

[PumpkinDoodles]

Hello, friends!

I hope this is okay to post here. If not, please remove with my sincere apologies.

I am here today looking for information about my own family. I had once heard a rumor about a half-brother who passed before I was born. There has never been any clear information about how old he was or what happened to him and nobody will talk about it.

My grandmother clearly felt connected enough to include him by name in every obituary, all of which I had not viewed until adulthood. Unfortunately, I can’t ask her about them at this point in time. He would have passed in the late 70s or early 80s in Pennsylvania, USA.

I am hoping one of you Sleuthing machines can point me in the right direction of how I can find any information. I have tried every search engine I can think of, including ancestry and findagrave, but I am not sure what else I can do. If nothing else, I’d like to know where he was put to rest.

Thank you for reading.

 

[AC's Grandma]

If you know his name you should be able to look at newspaper obituaries and see if you can find more information about him. It's a start, I'm not the best at telling people how to find things but I have no doubt there are many others here who can advise you better.

This is probably not the best forum for your question. You may ask the moderators to move it to missing or a better forum.

 

[PumpkinDoodles]

If you know his name you should be able to look at newspaper obituaries and see if you can find more information about him. It's a start, I'm not the best at telling people how to find things but I have no doubt there are many others here who can advise you better.

This is probably not the best forum for your question. You may ask the moderators to move it to missing or a better forum.

Thank you. Obits definitely give a lot of information. I was able to obtain the name Jason through family member obituaries, but I could not find his. I have not gotten the impression it was a stillborn situation, which is the only reason I could come up with not to have an obituary. I was hoping ancestry would suggest one, but it hasn’t.

I wasn’t 100% sure about the forum because I guess he is not technically missing, but it feels like he is.

 

[doyoulovemepfg]

Thank you. Obits definitely give a lot of information. I was able to obtain the name Jason through family member obituaries, but I could not find his. I have not gotten the impression it was a stillborn situation, which is the only reason I could come up with not to have an obituary. I was hoping ancestry would suggest one, but it hasn’t.

I wasn’t 100% sure about the forum because I guess he is not technically missing, but it feels like he is.

What year and what state do you believe he was born in? I have extensive research experience on Ancestry finding "missing" cousins and if I am able to get a mother and grandparents' names and that first name it'd be pretty easy to get a birth certificate in several states, even thought I may have to do that search through a back-channel method that won't pop up in the Ancestry AI all the time.

Unfortunately Pennsylvania looks to be one of those states where birth and death certificates are sealed, so unless he lived to adulthood and had a social security number it may be difficult to find him. I know that @Alleykins, @MadMcGoo and @taramarie all have access to Newspapers.com subscriptions that may be helpful later down the line if we know about a prior marriage, adoption etc.

A lot of us on this forum have had family members in similar situations; my mother recently found out that she had a cousin living five miles away from us she was unaware of that passed away last year. Take care of yourself, let yourself grieve your brother and hopefully one of us will be able to find some more information.

 

[PumpkinDoodles]

What year and what state do you believe he was born in? I have extensive research experience on Ancestry finding "missing" cousins and if I am able to get a mother and grandparents' names and that first name it'd be pretty easy to get a birth certificate in several states, even thought I may have to do that search through a back-channel method that won't pop up in the Ancestry AI all the time.

Unfortunately Pennsylvania looks to be one of those states where birth and death certificates are sealed, so unless he lived to adulthood and had a social security number it may be difficult to find him. I know that @Alleykins, @MadMcGoo and @taramarie all have access to Newspapers.com subscriptions that may be helpful later down the line if we know about a prior marriage, adoption etc.

A lot of us on this forum have had family members in similar situations; my mother recently found out that she had a cousin living five miles away from us she was unaware of that passed away last year. Take care of yourself, let yourself grieve your brother and hopefully one of us will be able to find some more information.

Hi! Thanks for your reply. I have not tried newspapers.com outside of what Ancestry would link, but that is a good idea.

I am not sure about the year, but I believe his name was Jason Stevens and he was born before 1981. For some reason, I thought I had found something years ago with a “unique” spelling like Jayson(or similar) in an obituary that I can no longer find. That obituary was for Maurice “Sonny” Luckenbaugh.

If I had to venture a guess on the middle name for Jason, I would guess it was Lee because that’s all of our middle names.

Jason/Jayson Lee Stevens

Almost definitely Adams or York county, Pennsylvania.

 

[Laughing]

Just another genealogist here.

Is Stevens currently in use in your family? Could this be Stephens? Or even Stevenson?

Any of the obits list a place where he lived?

Might be able to find information here:

Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive

Do you know/can you figure out the county?

PAGenWeb |

I have choir rehearsal this evening, but will try to find time to poke around.

 

[Shamrock1]

Hi! Thanks for your reply. I have not tried newspapers.com outside of what Ancestry would link, but that is a good idea.

I am not sure about the year, but I believe his name was Jason Stevens and he was born before 1981. For some reason, I thought I had found something years ago with a “unique” spelling like Jayson(or similar) in an obituary that I can no longer find. That obituary was for Maurice “Sonny” Luckenbaugh.

If I had to venture a guess on the middle name for Jason, I would guess it was Lee because that’s all of our middle names.

Jason/Jayson Lee Stevens

Almost definitely Adams or York county, Pennsylvania.

Maurice’s obituary - Jason Stevens
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/eveningsun/name/maurice-luckenbaugh-obituary?id=27009873

Perhaps Randy L. Stevens, Jr. is Jason’s brother?

 

[PumpkinDoodles]

Maurice’s obituary - Jason Stevens
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/eveningsun/name/maurice-luckenbaugh-obituary?id=27009873

Perhaps Randy L. Stevens, Jr. is Jason’s brother?

Yes, absolutely correct. Randy was his half brother. He was born sleeping in 1997.

 

[PumpkinDoodles]

Just another genealogist here.

Is Stevens currently in use in your family? Could this be Stephens? Or even Stevenson?

Any of the obits list a place where he lived?

Might be able to find information here:

Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive

Do you know/can you figure out the county?

PAGenWeb |

I have choir rehearsal this evening, but will try to find time to poke around.

Thanks so much for your help. I will check out those links.

I am almost certain county was York or Adams. I lean more towards York.

We are all named Stevens still.

 

[taramarie]

Here’s his obituary

 

[Laughing]

Here’s his obituary

Well done! What is the date of publication of this clipping?

@PumpkinDoodles , you may be able to get more information from the funeral home or from church records.

 

[katydid23]

Here’s his obituary

wow. Good work.

Poor baby , only 5 weeks old. No wonder it was hard to find any info about him.

 

[taramarie]

Well done! What is the date of publication of this clipping?

@PumpkinDoodles , you may be able to get more information from the funeral home or from church records.

Monday, 9/30/1974

 

[doyoulovemepfg]

Here’s his obituary

Knew I could rely on you to find it fast if I tagged you! Great job.

 

[doyoulovemepfg]

Monday, 9/30/1974

That means date of death would have been 9/29/74.

 

[PumpkinDoodles]

Here’s his obituary

Thank you so so much for this!!! I really appreciate. Thank you!!

 

[PumpkinDoodles]

Well done! What is the date of publication of this clipping?

@PumpkinDoodles , you may be able to get more information from the funeral home or from church records.

I think I will give that a try! Appreciate your insight very much.

 

[taramarie]

Thank you so so much for this!!! I really appreciate. Thank you!!

I’m glad I could help. I hope you’re able to find his grave. It looks like there are quite a few cemeteries in Hanover, Pennsylvania (the location of the funeral home). Presumably the cemetery will be near the funeral home so maybe you could start there <3

 

[doyoulovemepfg]

I’m glad I could help. I hope you’re able to find his grave. It looks like there are quite a few cemeteries in Hanover, Pennsylvania (the location of the funeral home). Presumably the cemetery will be near the funeral home so maybe you could start there <3

If there is a specific Lutheran cemetery I think that would be a great place to look.