I am posting with a sense of shock, sadness and confusion.
My 27-year-old brother passed away on Monday after a long battle with leukemia. He was a graduate student in music theory getting his Ph.D. and was to finish his dissertation this year. He passed away in his sleep with my mother, father my siblings and I by his bedside. Our family did brace for this as his health had slowly declined.
My eldest sister and I are contacting his close college friends, high school colleagues and friends to invite (I don't know if that is an apporiate word) to his funeral next Wed.
During his college days he had a serious long-term relationship with a girl. To date, that has been his only serious relationship he has had. I met his ex briefly and was cognizant of her presence in his life several years. Although the relationship fell apart and he was dumped, I feel compelled to at least inform her of her ex's death.
Do I even bother? She was with him for three years and I assume that would mean something if your former partner passed. However, she moved and I presume never looked back since they never kept in contact after the break up.