From elswinger:

With all the talk about the P-I folding—and who are we kidding, The Times will follow leaving USA Today and The New York Times—what will happen with obituaries? Sure, we will know when the famous die, but what will become of the remembrances of ordinary people? Sometimes this is the only to find out someone you know died. I found out my father died through an obituary because no one bothered to tell me.