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.
A 22-year-old Forest Lake man who attended classes at White Bear Area High School last month skirted around the enrollment process by claiming he was a homeless youth and by using a birth certificate from another country that indicated he was 18, the school district said Thursday.
White Bear Lake Area Schools Superintendent Wayne Kazmierczak said in an email to families that the man certified on district forms that he was a homeless unaccompanied youth, a designation that requires school districts to follow the McKinney Vento Act. The federal law mandates the immediate enrollment of eligible students even if they cannot provide standard documentation such as academic records, immunization or proof of residency.
The birth certificate, which listed a fake name of Kelvin C. Perry Jr., included an authentic watermarking and official stamps/seals, Kazmierczak said, adding there “was no indication that the document was anything less than authentic.”
The man was enrolled in the district from Sept. 3 to 29, when he was arrested on warrants in connection with unrelated cases, including violating probation in a 2023 case in which he was convicted of gross-misdemeanor indecent exposure for sending a 15-year-old girl a nude picture of himself through Snapchat.
On Thursday, he admitted in court to the probation violation, according to court records, which do not disclose what the violation entailed.
The man also registered for football on Sept. 8 and participated in three practices, according to Kazmierczak. “He did not play in games or travel with the team to any away games,” he said.
He remains jailed but not charged in the school enrollment case. White Bear Lake Police Chief Dale Hager said Thursday investigators are pursuing possible crimes related to fraud, forgery and unlawful conduct involving interaction with minors.
Dennis Gerhardstein, a spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, said Thursday a case has been presented against the man and is under review for possible charges.
The Pioneer Press generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
Kazmierczak’s email to families comes two days after State Rep. Elliott Engen pinned the blame on the superintendent, calling into question the district’s enrollment verification protocols, student safety measures and administrative oversight.
Engen, R-Lino Lakes, whose district includes communities served by the White Bear Lake school district, also called for Kazmierczak’s immediate resignation.
Kazmierczak said the district will review its enrollment “procedures to determine whether additional safeguards can be implemented without violating the McKinney-Vento Act or guidance from the U.S. and Minnesota Departments of Education.”
Kazmierczak acknowledged the “staff, families and students who came forward with information that led to our investigation and swift action to revoke this individual’s enrollment.”
Originally Published: October 2, 2025 at 5:49 PM CDT