Writing a standard obituary (also called a death notification) is to inform others of someone's death and to briefly (and publicly) commemorate the deceased person. Usually a family member is assigned to compiling the obituary, but if the person who died has no family or is estranged from his family, the task may fall to a good friend. However, in most situations your Funeral Director will assist. Obituaries are sensitive, so be sure first that you are the appropriate person to write it. Newspapers usually provide guidelines and assistance for writing obituaries, making the process easier. They tend to follow a similar format. Here are the basics:
Things to know initially:
There is a distinctive difference between a “standard obituary/ death notification”, and a news or feature obituary. Most Newspapers will require Funeral Directors or Funeral Home staff to place obituaries for you, for a fee.
Newspapers almost always charge for an obituary/ death notification however you can ask your Funeral Director to load it on to absentFriends.com and have it listed (first 500 letters plus a photo) for FREE.
News obituaries are longer stories, usually about well-known or locally known people, chosen and written by the newspaper staff. You can suggest a news obituary about your friend or relative, but the decision to run it is up to the publication.
The steps below are a guide for writing a standard obituary.
1: The newspaper
Decide which are the appropriate Newspapers to place an insertion.
2: The biographical facts
- Full name (maiden name in parenthesis if required)
- Date of death
- Where the person was living at the time of death
- Where died
- Date of birth or age
- Birthplace
- Key survivors (spouse, children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews, friends, or pets) and their names
- Time, date, place of funeral, memorial, cremation service or burial services (if you want the public invited)
- Add any extra information that's relevant or important to those closest to the person. It's common to include:
- Cause of death
- Biographical information, life story, or major life events (covering as much or as little as you'd like)
- Memorial tribute information, such as "in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a specific nonprofit organization"
- Check that all the facts for accuracy, and include other family members with the content.
3: Writing the obituary
Keep the style of the obituary basic, straightforward and simple, presenting only the facts.
You can always browse at other notifications as a guide. (click here to view samples).
The majority of obituaries present information in roughly this order, linked together in a few sentences.
4: Ask your Funeral Director to place the insertions in the newspapers and on absentFriends.com