Copyright St. Paul Pioneer Press
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, And an alternate phone number (if any) 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. Ad Run dates There is a discount for running more than one day, but this must be scheduled on the first run date to apply. If a photo is used, it must be used for both days for the discount to apply, contact us for more information. Policies: 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. Guestbook and Outside Websites: 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. Credit Card: Payment accepted by phone only due to PCI (Payment Card Industry) regulations EFT: Check by phone. Please provide your routing number and account number. Cash: Accepted at our FRONT COUNTER Monday – Friday from 8:00AM – 3:30PM 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) Ad 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. More money? On Nov. 4 many of us are going to vote yes or no to our proposed school referendums. I don’t have the answer for you, but after teaching 40 years, 15 in private and 25 years in public high schools, I have some thoughts. 1. Children learn because parents have taken the time from age 3/4 through 4th or 5th grade to foster an ability and love of reading, and basic math skills. This is done on a regular almost daily basis; not every couple of weeks. 2. As a student is in middle and high school their peer group is very important. Parents should monitor their child’s peer group. If there is little or no push/help from home to improve student performance more money may or may not be the answer. John Heller, North St. Paul There are uses more special than this President Trump has decided that the White House needs a ballroom addition. The dining area of the White House is indeed small. But why can’t the president use another government building for gathering? Why spend $250,000,000 on a “special”-use-only addition? How many units of housing and treatment centers for this country’s disabled and homeless veterans could the government build for $250,000,000? Even if the money is being donated by private parties, this seems to me to another special interest waste. Tom Mullaney, Woodbury Great memories of Mr. Mauer and the ‘boys’ As a Humboldt High School student during Ken Mauer Sr.’s tenure as football coach, I vividly remember his young sons along the sidelines during games. I was lucky to see a couple of those city championships under Mr. Mauer and be a cheerleader in the late 1960s. We always knew the “Mauer boys” would be there running around and throwing the ball back and forth. The article (“Nearing the end of their career, officiating is still a Mauer family affair”) brought back great memories of Mr. Mauer, St. Paul football games at Central High field, and the wonder of crisp fall evenings cheering on our team. The story also reminded me exactly how old I am now that those “boys” are now in their late 60s! Thanks for a great story. Janet Grieder, Maple Grove Third grade is too early We have a vote on Nov. 4 in many of our districts, to increase our property taxes to give more money to schools. I believe it would be best if we start scaling back all the added programs that since implemented our children’s education has declined. Minnesota ELA Standards Review Committee has added a new program for us to spend money on beginning in the 2025-26 school year Minnesota ELA Standards Review Committee updates to the English Language Arts standards, specifically benchmark 3.2.1.3, which introduces the use of male, female and non-binary gender pronouns in third grade writing instruction. While I understand the importance of inclusivity and representation, this is not age-appropriate; how could you possibly teach this without bringing up the sexual nature of why we use pronouns? Many of our children are currently struggling to meet basic literacy benchmarks — reading and writing at grade level remains a significant challenge for a large portion of students across the state. Introducing complex and often controversial language concepts at such an early stage may further burden students who are still developing foundational skills. Additionally, public education serves families from a wide range of cultural, religious and philosophical backgrounds. When curriculum content touches on deeply personal and value-based topics — such as gender identity — it is essential that schools remain neutral and respectful of the diverse beliefs held by families. Matters that may conflict with a family’s values should be left to parents to address at home, not mandated in public classrooms. I am deeply concerned that introducing such topics prematurely may contribute to confusion, anxiety and emotional stress among young learners. Our shared goal should be to foster a safe, supportive and academically focused environment for all students. Karla J. Nelson, Maplewood Lacking leadership We have two excellent mayoral candidates in Yan Chen and Kaohly Her. I’ve had extended conversations with both regarding transit and development in our City of Saint Paul. Their ideas are thought through, and I particularly like their emphasis on community engagement, particularly with District Councils, and financial responsibility. I oppose Melvin Carter for many reasons. He’s been mayor for seven-plus years and lacking in leadership and has basically been invisible in neighborhoods of our city. The disintegration of downtown didn’t happen overnight with the death of a major developer, Jim Crockarell. The funding of St. Paul’s government has now shifted to residential property taxes with diminished property values in downtown. We now have the (regional) FCC garbage truck facility on the Mississippi River bluff that will pay significantly less in property taxes than if it were developed residential. When I attended the town hall at the Highland Park Community Center on Oct. 15 for a vision for the Mississippi River co-sponsored by Friends of the Mississippi River, St. Paul Bird Alliance, Highland District Council, West 7th/Fort Road Federation, West Side Community Organization, his lengthy and wandering responses to most questions centered on the rights of property owners and ignored the question asked. He has done nothing about riverside development for seven years other than outlining how St. Paul’s vision has lagged behind other urban centers nationally. At this writing we don’t even have lights along Shepard Road. Last week I read that there will only be cosmetic enhancements to West Seventh Street/Highway 5 due to Commissioner Ortega’s withdrawal and reallocation of county funding, the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s lack of priority, and Met Council’s competing bus-rapid-transit interests. And to the lack of leadership (vision?) on the part of the City of Saint Paul. Add to that Ortega’s anger since we defeated his pet project of streetcars. Jos. F. Landsberger, St. Paul
