It is important to keep in mind, regardless of how you have access to the Social Security Death Index, that until quite recently everybody did not have a Social Security number or card. The original law exempted quite a number of professions from the Social Security system, including many government and railroad employees, and I think that in some states teachers were not initially eligible. Which is to say that not finding a death record in the SSDI is not always the fault of the search engine but possibly a simple result of the Society Security system's not embracing everybody, including some people who worked as late as the 1970s or '80s. Brent Tarter The Library of Virginia [log in to unmask] Please visit the Library of Virginia's Web site at http://www.lva.virginia.gov To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html