I've recently run into a few questions about things I should be considering when handling the passing of classmates who have profiles.

If you didn't personally know the classmate, do you contact his/her family on behalf of the website? If so, what mention (if any) do you make of how the the website handles a classmate passing?

I currently have a family member of a passed classmate checking in. The classmate gave his spouse his password before he passed so she could notify and talk to his friends. I had just sent out an all class letter with his passing info, so this means that when she signs in, it appears that HE is online. I've had comments that classmates find this a little disconcerting, particularly if they just signed on to see his obit. Additionally, if she opts to send messages to his friends via the message system, or in response to comments on his obit, it will appear that messages are coming from him, until the reader reaches the signature line. Perhaps I should have offered her guest membership?

Any thoughts on how you are handling this subject would be appreciated.

We had a simalar situation. You were right with your 1st thought. Offer the opportunity to join as a guest member. In addition. you should notify the class by email of what's going on. Since guests are relagated to the bottom of the class list, they would need to know that.

John

When a Classsmate passes, I make sure the information comes from a reliable source. Initially, I give the name of the Classmate, date of passing, and the city that the Classmate lived in at the time of death. I make a few kind generic remarks in the announcement: Email the Class. Beyond that I only place information from an obituary, or news paper into the in memory section, and when possible, scan the Obituary into the In Memory section. I never make any comments other than what was in the newspaper or on the actual Obituary. I would not be concerned, if a surviving spouse who already had the pass word was using the site, this is a very sensitive area and do not create a problem for yourself as an administrator. Only if there was a complaint, abuse, or something that was brought to my attention that required action would I question who was using a password who already had access. If there was a problem, I would resolve it by disabeling the access point based on the fact that the member was deceased. I would only the survivors become a guest member if they met the same criterior as other guests members who have access to the site. Never create an unnecessary problem for yourself as an administrator.

We have one same scenario, and have made her a guest member. She will be attending the reunion as well.
Others that I've learnd about, I email and request a copy of the obit and explain how we honor our former clasmates. If they would like to see the page, I give them a set time and open it up for an hour or so.

Barbara Ritter Paris

Ruth, The "guest membership" would solve this whole problem. I am not sure why the system would let someone In Memory to log on. I have marked a few people in this class but they never tried to create a profile.