If an obituary says "passed away" does that typically mean suicide?

[Anonymous]

It means they died and the cause of death isn't being listed in the obituary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Passed away suddenly" or "passed away unexpectedly" is code for suicide. So we were informed by the catholic part of the family and the people at the newspaper when we were placing the announcement for my mum who died suddenly and unexpectedly of an aneurism.

Umm, no. It isn't a catholic thing. Catholics die suddenly due to unknown or unforeseen causes just like everyone else. There's no code language; it just means the family didn't see it coming.

I don't think you have to worry about it. If it is someone you are close to, you'll hear about how they died. If it isn't, well then, mind your own business and find something else to talk about with the girls at the salon.

[Anonymous]

Hello?!? It means we didn't know he was going to die. And we didn't know the exact cause when writing the obituary.
Use common sense. It's none of anybody's business in the first place, but why would you go and ASS-ume anything like that? How dare you!

[Anonymous]

I read obituaries all the time and they usually state if it was a suicide. "Took his life" is commonly used.

Passed away simply means died. Quite often it usually means the person just died. In their sleep of old age is commonplace. Sudden death does happen. I wouldn't infer more than that without additional details.

[Anonymous]

No, passed away sounds so much nicer than "died."

[Anonymous]

“Left this world on ______” is often used

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. When my fit, healthy 43 yr old cousin dropped dead next to his car in a parking lot they said he passed away in the obit. Eventually they learned it was an undiagnosed heart condition, but sometimes you need to write the obit before you even know what the cause of death was.

+1

OP, why do you think that you need to know? You don't seem like a very good person, frankly. I tend to hope you never find out the actual cause.

That's ridiculous. Everyone always wants to know the cause...especially when it's so unlikely. I'm also always wondering when I see younger people's obits in the paper without a reason.
What was weird here was your answer.

Np. You may be curious, but you need to understand that your curiously is offensive to many people. When a friend of mine died, I too wanted to know why because it was so shocking. Her family and close friends were really upset that people had the nerve to ask how. So you may want to know, but keep the question to yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It means the person died of 'Mind Your Own Business.'

Plus One Tabratillion. Thread Over.

Although, OP, I wouldn't mind seeing your obit read "passed away unexpectedly" in the near future. Please leave your name so I can keep an eye out.

Looking forward!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It means the person died of 'Mind Your Own Business.'

Plus One Tabratillion. Thread Over.

Although, OP, I wouldn't mind seeing your obit read "passed away unexpectedly" in the near future. Please leave your name so I can keep an eye out.

Looking forward!

This was mean but funny.

I had a family member pass away recently and I was shocked at how invasive people can be with wanting details. I'm actually ok with saying "X" died of a heart attack or stroke-- no biggie, but folks wanted even more details. My family member was found dead and a few people wanted questions about how the person looked dead (ie were eyes closed, fully dressed etc). It was quite weird and I quickly had to learn to shut the conversations down.

Greif porn is very real. I am convinced some people get off on tragedy and sadness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Twice in the last couple months I have come across the obituary of a "friend of a friend" who has died. In both cases, it only said "passed away" with no indication of how.

#1 was a 40 something male who was an intense athlete--in excellent shape with no mention of health condition/disease (like cancer) or being in an accident or the victim of an assault, etc.

#2 was a college student in his early 20's. Again, no mention of an accident, disease, etc.

Are these likely suicides? Drug overdose?

Assume much?

[Anonymous]

Passed away is simply a euphemism for died. I hate the current popularity of the shorter “passed” — ie “he passed yesterday.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When we were writing the obit after my brother recently died of sudden (and completely out of the blue) heart failure, we had intended to write "passed away unexpectedly", but the priest told us that often people use "unexpectedly" in an obit if they want to indicate suicide, so to think about whether we want to use the word. As others have said, "passed away" thing just means died.

+1
Exactly this. Passed away just means died. Passed away suddenly it unexpectedly can mean more but it's certainly not a sure thing and it wouldn't be a safe assumption to make.

[Anonymous]

This thread was from 2016 and should have passed away by now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. When my fit, healthy 43 yr old cousin dropped dead next to his car in a parking lot they said he passed away in the obit. Eventually they learned it was an undiagnosed heart condition, but sometimes you need to write the obit before you even know what the cause of death was.

+1

OP, why do you think that you need to know? You don't seem like a very good person, frankly. I tend to hope you never find out the actual cause.

Oh please don't be so high and mighty. I think it's human nature to be curious about cause of sudden person in young assumed healthy person.

OP is nosy and the cause of death is none of OP’s business.

Being curious doesn’t entitle a person to information.

[Anonymous]

I hate "passed" or "passed away." Mines going to say died, or better yet "croaked."