Need help from German duders on personal matter

So recently my mom got a letter in the mail saying that one of her best friends (who lived in Germany) had passed away. The little card looked like something from a funeral program and didn't list why the lady had died or anything. Just a generic stuff about if she was a mom or married and how she will be missed.

My mom has been pretty upset to say the least as she wants to know exactly what happen. I spent many hours sifting through German online newspapers for the area and all the obituaries I found listed on the site looked very similar to what my mom got in the mail.

So my question is, is that the actual obituary notice? Does Germany not put out a detail article in its papers stating the persons brief history and exactly how they passed like they do most the time in the US?

I know this is a weird question to ask, but if that is the case there is no amount of searching through papers that is going to help me find the information my mom wants for closure. As I myself do not speak or read very much German (and my mother doesn't have internet access) I thought I would just ask seeing as after 2 hours last night I came up with nothing. Don't wanna spend days looking for something that doesn't exist, ya know?

It is very unusual if these notifications include any detail concerning the passing. Mostly it is just this non-saying stuff like "will be missed" and so forth. To add to that business like those newspaper notifications are mostly done by relatives. This means if a friend of yours died you might not even get any message about that at all in case you aren't really close to the family or other relatives as well. Best bet would be to get in touch with the family and ask them. Other than that, not much chance of getting any information otherwise.

I second the 'getting in touch with the family' idea.

It's the same here in Sweden, it's mainly families putting out a notice and saying whoever passed with be missed and so on. Why the person died isn't really seen as relevant information to be shared to people outside the inner circle, so to speak. So as others already stated, she'll probably have to reach out to the family if she wants to know specifics.

Sorry for your loss.

Unless you're somewhat famous you don't really get a detailed article in the local newspaper here in Northwestern Europe. At the most you'll get a sentence like "after a long sick bed" or something.

You could try getting in touch with the next of kin, either trying social networks like Facebook or the last known phone number. Most people in Germany can speak a bit of English, IIRC.

Thanks so much every for your help and support. This information helps me a ton. This way I'm not looking through stuff for ever online when it doesn't really exist. We are going to try and get ahold of the family and see if we can get more information from them. My Omi (grandmother) is still alive and is fluent so we are going to get her to help us translate the letter (cause my moms German is a bit rusty). Thanks again everyone!