A type of research strategey:

A person I was searching for in extended family died in WWII in the European Theater in Italy, sometime between 1944-1945. I was able to pin it to that small of a time period. He entered the service in 1943, and was in the directories that year as well. He wasn't in the 1944-1945 directories, so, I figured he died between 1943-1945, but wasn't certain. I checked the county courthouse where he lived, and there was no death certificate in the books. So, I had a brick wall for a while, until I came across a listing for a person that fit my description, buried in Camp Butler National Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. date of death was Feb 13, 1944. So, I went back and checked newspapers on microfilm, but alas, no obit showed up anywhere, and I checked a few days after that too. So, I went on Ancestry, and found that his burial date in the cemetery was Oct 19, 1948...So, I then tried searching Oct 1948 Microfilm, starting on Oct 7.

Presto....a notice showed up on Oct 10, 1948 newspaper saying that the body was going to be buried in the Camp Butler National Cemetery, and that the parents were leaving to meet the daughter, who, being his sister, was also leaving to meet up in Springfield.

It was very interesting...