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How to Write an Obituary

Writing an obituary needs to be well thought out and written with these things in mind.

When a loved one dies, the family often leaves the writing of the obituary up to the funeral director. When the obituary is left up to someone outside of the family, it often contains mistakes and doesn't really say what the family would like it to. This causes added pain when an incorrect obituary is placed in the paper and it feels like your loved ones memory has been tainted somehow. It is best to write the obituary yourself because you are the one that knew the person the best and what is important to include and what is not. However, most newspapers will not publish the obituary exactly as you have written it, as they have someone who does this job and the obituaries must follow a certain format.

When you are writing your obituary there are several important things to remember to include. Mention that your loved one did for a living. Even if they have been retired for many years, it is important to list their occupation. List any associations the person may have had such as Lions club, volunteer fire department, or any clubs they may have participated in. List volunteer work or hobbies.

Save the room for something personal about the person and you would want them to be remembered by. Remember, many acquaintances are going to learn about the death of your loved one by reading the obituary, leave something touching there for them to keep.

When listing surviving relatives, it is important to keep the list short and limited to the immediate family as there is not much space given to obituaries.

Check over the obituary with a fine-toothed comb, making sure there are no typos or grammatical mistakes; be sure to include the person's age or birthday and date of death and send your obituary to more than one paper. If your loved one had lived in another town or state for a portion of his life, send a copy to the newspapers in the other towns to notify people who may have knew him there.

People often save obituaries as remembrances of someone they loved, keep the obituary short but make sure it is something worthy of a scrap book and worthy of your loved ones memory.

How to Write an Obituary Notice

An obituary notice has two functions:

1. To notify friends, family and colleagues of the death.
   
   
2. To give specific details concerning the funeral service.

Obituaries can be written at the time of death or before. Many people find it helpful to write their own obituary notice in advance for the following reasons:

1. The surviving family members might not remember, or struggle to find, specific dates (birth, employment, retirement, previous deaths).
   
   
2. They might not know proper spelling of people's names, places, companies or organizations.
   
   
3. They might not know all of the deceased's memberships to volunteer organizations and community clubs.
   
   
4. It could specify a favorite charity for donations that the surviving family wouldn't have thought of.

Some people find that they can save money by placing a shorter obituary notice into their local newspaper and making use of the longer version as part of the eulogy said by the clergy, family member or friend.

When sitting down to write an obituary, for yourself or that of a loved one, make sure to include all of these things:

1. Full Legal Name of Deceased (Nicknames in quotes).
   
   
2. Name, age, date of death, place of death.
   
   
3. Where born and raised, occupation.
   
   
4. Education, club memberships, church affiliation.
   
   
5. Hobbies, interests, noteworthy achievements/awards.
   
   
6. Preceded in death by.
   
   
7. Survivors names and locations (immediate family only, separate by types).
   
   
8. Name of Funeral Home.