If your ancestors were members of the Seventh-day Adventist church, you will want to use a powerful database of obituaries. The Seventh-day Adventist Obituary Index is a subset of the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index, sponsored by the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians.
The Obituary Index covers 1850 to the current year. However, not all members of the church are included in this database. It seems that local church pastors report deaths in their church to the editor of a church periodical for their territory. The deaths are later published in the periodical. Only those members about whom the editor received information will be found in the magazine and therefore in the online database.
The listings are brief. For example, here is one listing that I found:
Obit name: Eastman, Charles S
Appears in: Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 1875, Sep 23 1875
Birth date: 0000 00 00
Death date: 1875 09 10
Note: SDAOBIT
This database is true to its name: it is an INDEX, not a listing of all the details. However, the interested genealogist may find a listing in this index first and then obtain photocopies of specific obituaries by either visiting a Seventh-day Adventist college or university library or by writing to the Andrews University Adventist Heritage Center for information. The photocopies typically give a lot more information than the index entry.
Photocopies of obituaries cost $10 for the first requested name and $5 for each additional name that is ordered at the same time. Full details are available on the Seventh-day Adventist Obituary Index web site.
To search the index yourself, go to http://www.andrews.edu/library/car/sdapiobits.html
