This 1906 Swedish funeral card served as both an invitation to services and a keepsake of the departed. As seen below, the card folds in half. And then top folds to create a flap. The verso was then addressed and delivered to the person invited to the funeral.

1906 Swedish Funeral Card

Larsson Family Relationships

My grandmother’s papers helped shed light on in-laws of my Swedish Larsson family. This funeral card was addressed to my great-great aunt Hedda. Maria Margareta was her uncle’s wife. And therefore, she was my ggg-uncle’s wife. (Yes, I used my family tree software to be sure of this relationship!)

Swedish Funeral Card Translation

I attempted a translation of the funeral card for Maria Margareta Persson Larsson, with corrections courtesy of blog reader Stefan Lejman. (Tack, Stefan!)

That
our beloved mother

Maria Margareta Larsson,

born Persson,

After a long-lasting suffering, calmly and peacefully died in Björka
Saturday, May 19, 1906, at 6 p.m. at an age of 80 years.

Deeply mourned by us, relatives and friends,
We hereby have the painful duty to announce.

Uppenb[arelse] 21: 4*                            [Her] children

Invite
to honor the deceased with their presence
funeral ceremony
in Lindesberg
Saturday the 27th of May 1906 at 2 p.m.
Meeting in the house of grieving at half past 9

*Book of Revelation 21:4: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Finding the Death Record

Death records can be some of the most elusive of genealogical records. But this Swedish funeral card provided a death date for Maria Margareta. And that led directly to her parish death and burial record.

With the information from this funeral card, I located Maria’s Björka parish death record in Sweden, Indexed Death Records, 1840-1942, including a digitized image (below). (Thanks for buying Genline, Ancestry!) From the death card information, I also found baptism and marriage records for Maria Persdotter Larsson. So for a woman who had been mostly been a question mark in my tree, the funeral card was the key to unlocking great information. Now I’m off to ArkivDigital for birth, baptism, and marriage records.

1906 Swedish Funeral Card

Maria Margaretha Larsson [death record], GID Number: 2106.142.8200, from Swedish Church Records Archive. Johanneshov, Sweden: Genline AB, via Sweden, Indexed Death Records, 1840-1947, Ancestry.com.

Do you have Swedish funeral cards in your family papers?

For more Sassy Jane posts on funeral cards, click here.

For more Sassy Jane posts on Swedish records and research, click here.