davepape

Susan-
I think I would probably decline a request that required searching through an entire year's worth of newspapers, because of the amount of time required - after a few rolls of film, I would worry I'd get sloppy (I missed one death notice someone requested a while ago where I had to search a full month; I found it a few weeks later while going back over things).

However, there are some other possibilities. If the death happened between 1914 and 1960 (or outside the city of Buffalo between 1881 and 1960), I can search the New York State Vital Records Index for the exact date of death. I should probably add that to the lookup description. For the 1800s, I can check various indices such as Reamy & Reamy's "Erie County, New York obituaries" (covers 1811-1880) or the city directory's mortuary lists (1882-1892); though as noted in the lookup, it seems only a small fraction of people in Buffalo had death notices published then. For other dates, there may be other resources (including my own index I've been slowly compiling).

So if the death would be in the NYS Vital Records Index, you should feel free to make a request with just the year. Outside of that range, send me another question (which can be kept non-public) with the name & year and I'll let you know, based on what info I have at hand, whether it might be possible.