Los Gatos Funeral Homes
The Los Gatos Funeral Home Records is a collection of records from mortuaries
that operated in the city of Los Gatos, California between 1901 and 1989.
The mortuaries included in these records are the Place Funeral Home,
Charles S. Topping, Melvin’s Funeral Home, Chapel of the Hills
and West Valley Funeral Home.
The records are comprised of undertakers’ notes, death certificates,
burial permits, cremation certificates, obituaries and newspaper articles.
They can also include correspondence concerning family members and funeral
arrangements. Records were kept for each individual, but records vary
in what is contained for that individual.
Each mortuary recorded their information differently. For example,
Melvin’s records typically include only obituaries and clippings from
local newspapers, while Place Funeral Home records frequently include death
certificates, undertaker notes, permits and correspondence.
The original documents are housed in archival binders at the Los Gatos Library,
100 Villa Ave., Los Gatos, California. These documents are available to the
general public to view and copy. Ask a librarian for help finding them. The
binders are in numerical order by year range, and the records are in alphabetic
order within each binder. If you are unable to visit the library, you can request
that SCCHGS Research Team search the records for specific information. Please
read more about our
Research Services.
The index on this website is an alphabetical list of the names that are included
in the Los Gatos Funeral Home Records. The index includes, if known, birthdate,
birth place, death date, death place and notes. The Charles Topping and Melvins
records indexed, include a link to the image that has been scanned and uploaded
to Archives.org. The index has been created by volunteers for the Santa Clara
County Historical and Genealogical Society.
Indexing work continues on the remaining years and homes. Please continue to check
this website for updates.
Index last updated: 11 July 2024
Index to Los Gatos Funeral Home Records