What can we learn from obituaries?

[Research journal #3, entry #3]
I now knew that Helen was in Oakland by 1927. Since there were five sets of Pacheco parents that Helen could belong to, it was important to firmly establish who her birth parents were. So, the next step was to track down her possible siblings. Since she was thought to be one of "The Reds" (a nickname given to one Pacheco family), that's where I'd start my search.

I staked out a microfilm reader at Cal State Hayward's library and went through obituaries. The obituary research proved helpful. I found a few obituaries in the Daily Review that contained Helen's name as a sibling: John (1982), Antone (1975), and Francisco (1960). No obituary was found for her sister, Maria. Her other sister Isabella was alive at the time, but was very ill and did not remember much.

The next step was to look at the Oakland Tribune and hope that the family paid for an obituary for their mother. Joana's obituary was easy to find. She was listed as the wife of Januario Fernandes, her second husband. All the children above were listed as well as "Helen Correia". As Joana died in 1952, I now had my earliest piece of evidence tying Helen to her parents.