For years Rich and I have been trying to read the cause of death on my grandmother's death certificate. She died at O'Conner Hospital in San Jose, CA in 1924. We contacted O'Conner Hospital, but they were unable to read the handwriting and their records were stored in the basement and of course they were not able to obtain them. I then took the certificate to our own doctor and asked him if he could determine my grandmother's cause of death. It also stumped him because of the handwriting. That is when it hit me, who can read a doctor's handwriting, but a pharmacist? I took it to our local Pharmacy and the pharmacist was able to translate it to be an inflamation of the stomach lining which was more than likely brought on by the 1918 flu epidemic. She came to California with my father and his brother because her infant daughter, husband and father all died in the 1918 flu epidemic. All this time we assumed she died of diabetes since we have diabetes in our family. This same pharmacy had a bi-lingual pharmacist that helped us out with our death records out of Mexico. Check out your local pharmacy for help with your death documents. They are usually more than happy to help you.
Kitty Cortez
Rocklin, CA