How to Find and Publish Obituaries in Chattanooga

When someone dies in Chattanooga, their obituary typically appears across multiple channels within three to seven days. Understanding where to look and how to submit one yourself prevents the frustration of searching everywhere at once and ensures the death notice reaches the people who need to see it.

Where Chattanooga Obituaries Appear

The Chattanooga Times Free Press remains the primary print and digital obituary source for the region. Obituaries in the Times Free Press cost money to publish (pricing varies by length and placement, typically starting around $200 for a standard notice), and the newspaper accepts submissions through its website or directly via phone to the obituary desk. The Times Free Press archive goes back years and is searchable by name, making it useful for family research. Print copies still circulate widely among older residents and at funeral homes throughout Hamilton County, so a Times Free Press obituary reaches both digital and offline audiences.

Legacy.com, a national obituary aggregates site, hosts Chattanooga deaths submitted by local funeral homes. Many families never knowingly post to Legacy directly; instead, the funeral home handling arrangements uploads the obituary there as part of standard services. Legacy obituaries are free to view and searchable, but they depend entirely on the funeral home's participation. Not every Chattanooga funeral home uses Legacy equally, so an obituary may appear there weeks after the death or not at all if the home does not maintain an active account.

The Chattanooga Funeral Home Directors Association does not operate a unified obituary listing, but individual funeral homes maintain their own websites. Websites for homes in East Brainerd, North Shore, and Downtown Chattanooga typically post obituaries on their front pages for 30 to 60 days after death. This means obituaries can vanish from a funeral home's site after a set period, so a search on the funeral home's page may fail even though the home handled the service.

Facebook memorial pages and nextdoor neighborhood apps have become unofficial obituary channels. Many Chattanooga residents post death announcements in neighborhood groups or personal pages, especially if the deceased had community ties. These are not archived like newspaper or Legacy entries and rely on word-of-mouth to spread, so they work well for immediate notification but poorly for long-term searchability.

Submitting an Obituary

Funeral homes in Chattanooga include obituary submission to newspapers as part of their service package. When you contract with a funeral home, ask whether they submit to the Times Free Press, Legacy, and any other outlets you want to reach. Some homes bundle submission into their basic service; others charge an additional fee, typically $50 to $150, to handle placement at multiple outlets.

If you are writing and submitting the obituary yourself, contact the Times Free Press obituary desk directly by phone or through their website. The Times Free Press requires a death certificate or confirmation of death from a funeral home or medical examiner before publishing. Submission deadlines run to about 2 p.m. for the next day's print edition, though online posting can occur outside those hours.

For Legacy.com, you do not submit directly unless you operate a funeral home account. Instead, ask the funeral home whether they will post your obituary there, or visit Legacy.com's website to create a free memorial page and write your own tribute (distinct from a formal obituary, though memorial pages can serve the same purpose).

Length, Content, and Tone Differences

A Times Free Press obituary runs 200 to 500 words depending on how much you pay. Longer obituaries allow space for military service, detailed career history, surviving relatives by name, and charitable preferences. Shorter paid notices may contain only the essentials: name, age, date of death, surviving spouse and children, and service information.

Legacy.com obituaries submitted by funeral homes vary widely in length and detail. Some are bare-bones (name, age, date, surviving family) while others run as long as funeral homes care to post. Legacy also allows photo uploads, which newspapers charge extra for, so Legacy obituaries often include multiple photographs at no additional cost.

Facebook and neighborhood app posts typically run 50 to 300 words and reflect the writer's voice more than formal obituary language. These are faster to post but reach a narrower and less permanent audience.

Timing and Visibility

Death notices appear in the Times Free Press print edition roughly three to five business days after submission, depending on submission timing and the publication schedule. Online publication on chattanoogan.com happens faster, often within 24 hours. Legacy.com postings depend on funeral home submission timing and may lag by a week or more if the home is slow to update its account.

The window for visibility matters. A Times Free Press obituary remains in print archives indefinitely and searchable on the newspaper's site. A funeral home website obituary often disappears after 60 days. A Facebook post lives longer if people share it but eventually drops out of algorithmic feeds unless family members periodically repost or keep it pinned.

Practical Takeaway

If you need an obituary found quickly and permanently, submit it to the Times Free Press (or ask the funeral home to do so) and verify that Legacy.com has a posting through the funeral home's account. If cost is a concern, Legacy.com and memorial pages cost nothing. If you want to reach older residents and those who still read print, the Times Free Press remains essential despite the fee. Ask the funeral home handling arrangements whether their service package covers submission to all three channels or whether additional fees apply; costs and coverage vary by home, and clarifying this upfront prevents gaps in where your obituary appears.