To place an obituary, please include the information from the obituary checklist below in an email to obits@pioneerpress.com. There is no option to place them through our website. Feel free to contact our obituary desk at 651-228-5263 with any questions.
General Information:
Your full name,
Address (City, State, Zip Code),
Phone number,
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Obituary Specification:
Name of Deceased,
Obituary Text,
A photo in a JPEG or PDF file is preferable, TIF and other files are accepted, we will contact you if there are any issues with the photo.
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Verification of Death:
In order to publish obituaries a name and phone number of funeral home/cremation society is required. We must contact the funeral home/cremation society handling the arrangements during their business hours to verify the death. If the body of the deceased has been donated to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program, or a similar program, their phone number is required for verification.
Please allow enough time to contact them especially during their limited weekend hours.
A death certificate is also acceptable for this purpose but only one of these two options are necessary.
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We are not allowed to reference other media sources with a guestbook or an obituary placed elsewhere when placing an obituary in print and online. We may place a website for a funeral home or a family email for contact instead; contact us with any questions regarding this matter.
Obituary Process:
Once your submission is completed, we will fax or email a proof for review prior to publication in the newspaper. This proof includes price and days the notice is scheduled to appear.
Please review the proof carefully. We must be notified of errors or changes before the notice appears in the Pioneer Press based on each day’s deadlines.
After publication, we will not be responsible for errors that may occur after final proofing.
Online:
Changes to an online obituary can be handled through the obituary desk. Call us with further questions.
Payment Procedure:
Pre-payment is required for all obituary notices prior to publication by the deadline specified below in our deadline schedule. Please call 651-228-5263 with your payment information after you have received the proof and approved its contents.
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Rates:
The minimum charge is $162 for the first 10 lines.
Every line after the first 10 is $12.20.
If the ad is under 10 lines it will be charged the minimum rate of $162.
On a second run date, the lines are $8.20 per line, starting w/ the first line.
For example: if first run date was 20 lines the cost would be $164.
Each photo published is $125 per day.
For example: 2 photos in the paper on 2 days would be 4 photo charges at $500.
Deadlines:
Please follow deadline times to ensure your obituary is published on the day requested.
Hours
Deadline (no exceptions)
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Photos
MEMORIAM (NON-OBITUARY) REQUEST
Unlike an obituary, Memoriam submissions are remembrances of a loved one who has passed. The rates for a memoriam differ from obituaries.
Please call or email us for more memoriam information
Please call 651-228-5280 for more information.
HOURS: Monday – Friday 8:00AM – 5:00PM (CLOSED WEEKENDS and HOLIDAYS)
Please submit your memoriam ad to memoriams@pioneerpress.com or call 651-228-5280.
Eagan featured a youth-filled roster when McKenna Melville took over as head coach for her mom, Hall of Fame coach Kathy Gillen, in 2023.
Melville needed someone she could lean upon to uphold a sound defensive structure.
Luckily, she had Madi Kraft.
The now 17-year-old Kraft stands 5-feet, 5 inches tall, and has played for Eagan’s varsity team since 8th grade. Melville said Kraft – a two-year starter at that point – was a focal point when she arrived and helped craft the style of play her team would adopt.
“She helped form the foundation of, okay, well, we can have a solid defense because we have Madi Kraft on the court,” Melville said.
As a libero, Kraft’s main duties fall on the defensive side, but that doesn’t prevent her from affecting the Wildcats offense.
Attend an Eagan volleyball match and there is one sound guaranteed to ring through the gymnasium: Kraft calling out to her hitters, identifying the opposing team’s weak spot for them to target with swings.
Melville said the coaching staff is working with Kraft on being more than just a passer on the court.
“She can see the game at a level that most of our athletes can’t see the game,” Melville said. “So we wanted her to vocalize, hey, tell the girls what you see. Because it’s most likely right.”
The mental aspect of Kraft’s game is something she has had to work on throughout her time playing for the Wildcats.
Gillen remains on Eagan’s coaching staff as an assistant coach, and Kraft said the seven-time state champion coach provides pointers that help her with the cerebral side of the game.
“Gillen has helped me get mentally tough; she’s pushed me through a lot,” Kraft said.
Kraft said her playstyle is gritty, confident and resilient. As a senior leader for Eagan (13-4), confidence is key. Melville noticed the growth in Kraft’s leadership over the last 2 years.
At the Eagle Invitational recently played in Apple Valley, Kraft had 43 digs over two games, which pushed her north of 2,400 digs for her high school career.
With the wealth of experience Kraft has gained, having started on varsity for the last five seasons, Melville said Kraft is thriving with the increased responsibilities.
“She puts the team on her back,” Melville said. “The first thing she says is, ‘What more can I do?’ and as a little sophomore, she wasn’t asking that question.”
Melville also admires Kraft’s approach to each match.
“She’s the kind of person where you’re like, I need you to run through a brick wall right now, and she would go and then ask the question after,” Melville said. “That’s exactly what we need, that bought-in factor.”
That’s a quality Melville understands is important at the next level. The coach played five seasons of college volleyball at Central Florida, and led the nation in kills her senior season with 617. Kraft, too, will experience the Division-I level. She committed to Minnesota a year ago, noting Gophers coach Keegan Cook played a big role in her decision.
“How much (he) cares for his athletes stuck out to me,” she said, “and … how smart he is about the game.”