† or what else ?

[dna]

How do you mark that the kit owner has passed away?

The obvious solution would be to place † after the family name, but that ruins reporting by the last name.

Using fields First Name or Middle Name does not have the same impact.

The now inaccessible section About Me, that is going to be replaced by My Personal Story, is a good place, but do we need something that would be easily visible when looking at the matches?


Mr. W.


P.S.
† is a dagger symbol, if your browser does not display it. Although I do not think that could happen nowadays.

[loobster]

It may be a dagger symbol, but it looks way too much like a Christian Cross to be appropriately used with those not Christian.
Possibly "RIP" someplace?

Also - why is it important to mark it?
If it has been 'inherited' by an active user, is there any more reason to mark it than to mark any other profile being managed by a relative?

If it is Deceased and Not being managed by anyone, then perhaps FTDNA can be convinced to put something in the e-mail spot?

[dna]

My reason for a clear marking of deceased people is that many options are suddenly limited.

Most importantly:

• we cannot ask them,
• and in most circumstances no additional DNA is possible. That has two consequences: 1. limiting further testing; 2. if additional testing is ordered FTDNA has no way to know that once a lab process fails, there would be no additional DNA.

My oldest uncle tested and supplied three (3) swabs. After Y-DNA67, Family Finder v1 and v2, Big Y was purchased. DNA was extracted, but the process had failed. This time he submitted two vials. Big Y was now OK. Unfortunately, I cannot ask him about anything, and regardless of the choices that would be made, at one point there will be no usable DNA for testing. And it is possible that there might already be no usable DNA today. He was the first to test, and afterwards provided encouragement to other family members.

He is not the only tester from my family who had passed away...

A column named Deceased and a field in a profile might be the FTDNA solution. But for today, I am asking whether anybody has successfully implement something to show to matches that someone is no longer with us.


Mr. W.

P.S.
I had recently driven through Montana
mtlegion.org/department/highway-fatality-markers.html
Highway Fatality Markers

† = Deceased Marker ?

RIP ( Rest in peace ) is probably more Christian, than †... But now I am convinced that I would like to be propose that FTDNA adds a field to the profiles, so a visual symbol does not enter the picture.

[Carpathian]

In the long run we are all dead.

Isn't knowing the past what genealogy is all about? If we don't know and understand the past, we cannot utilize that knowledge in the present, nor in the future.

[dna]

In the long run we are all dead.

Isn't knowing the past what genealogy is all about? If we don't know and understand the past, we cannot utilize that knowledge in the present, nor in the future.

Yes!

But I am talking about awkward situations when I am writing to a match, while the match has already passed away. I would have written my letter very differently, when knowing the person is not among the living.

I sense the same in reverse when I get letters to my family deceased ones.


Mr. W.

[Tenn4ever]

This is also a good reason to leave beneficiaries for all of the accounts we administer.