Sumnerwichmann
Eyvind Wichmann edit
Hi there Sumnerwichmann - firstly, please accept my sincere condolences for your recent loss. I know how hard this time can be for those left behind.
We have a policy on Wikipedia to cite any information which is potentially contentious or damaging to a reliable source (a publication with editorial oversight - such as a newspaper), allowing readers to verify for themselves what is written is an accurate summary. While this is always important, it is especially important when dealing with biographies of living or recently deceased people - we even have a special policy for it. This helps ensure that any material which is potentially damaging to someone is backed up by a publication which has a reputation for fact checking and editorial oversight; meaning people can't make up untrue information about someone and try and insert it into the article. Unfortunately, this is something we see a lot, and we want to ensure we don't do harm to the subjects of articles. We're not a news website - it really doesn't matter if we're simply out of date, but it does matter if we're wrong.
While I understand that this can be frustrating (especially so as someone close to them), but please try to think of it the other way around - a random person on the internet changed the article to report a family member or close friend of yours was dead, when they were actually still alive - it would probably be even more upsetting, especially if other people saw the article and took action such as publishing obituaries or sending condolence cards for someone who is still alive.
I really want the article to be up-to-date as well - but we're not able to do so without a published source such as an obituary that we can reference. I've tried to find one online but I can't find anything that mentions that he's died. Perhaps you would be able to point me in the right direction for where to look? Thanks for your understanding here. stwalkerster (sock | talk) 09:24, 27 February 2019 (UTC)