Obituaries are short notices or articles, generally appearing in newspapers, reporting a person's death. The notices often contain information about surviving family members, biographical information, or other details about the person's life and death that are useful for the genealogy enthusiast.

  Ruth Moses began an obituary project in the early 1980s; later she gave the files to her cousin, Leland Meitzler, for the Heritage Quest Research Library. Since that time, many volunteers have continued that project to render the existing paper card file into an online data base.

  In general, the index focuses on local communities surrounding Sumner, Pierce County, Washington although there is a sprinkling of obituaries from the Seattle WA area as well. Dates of the obits run from late 1890's to the current date. A unique feature of the HQRL Index is that it includes a significant listing of Sumner WA pioneer residents, those local residents who filled the valley in the late 1800's.