Family resources are vital to older individuals. In order to establish base-line data on the availability and proximity of kin to persons aged 45 or older in a midwestern state, information was gathered for six months from the obituary section of the local newspaper. The sample includeed 1,413 individuals. Information included availabiltiy of kin, distance of child's or sibling's residence from that of the deceased, and proximity of kin. Data analyses indicated that the sample as a whole had both surviving children and siblings but that many of these lived outside the target area. Children of the deceased tended to live nearer than did their siblings. The results indicate that if direct services such as transportation, meals, and personal chores become necessary to enable older persons without kin living nearby to remain independent, these services will have to be provided by an agency other than the family. (AG)