Follow local customs
Customs for writing and placing an obituary vary with religious affiliation, cultural background and region. Reading a few recent notices in the local newspaper is the quickest way to see how obituaries in that area are usually written and presented.
Check the publication's requirements
Before you start writing, ask the newspaper about length limits, pricing, photographs and submission deadlines. Many papers charge for paid notices by length, and some publish a shorter free death notice alongside a longer paid obituary.
Plan the timing
The obituary needs to appear in print a few days before the funeral or memorial service so that people can attend. A newspaper will usually confirm with the funeral home that it is caring for the deceased, so allow time for that check; many funeral homes can also submit the notice on the family's behalf.
Use a simple structure
Most obituaries follow a familiar order. This outline works as a starting point and can be shortened to fit a publication's limits:
- Opening: the person's full name, age, and the date and place of death.
- Family: surviving relatives, and relatives who died before them.
- Life story: birth and birthplace, then the main events of their life, such as employers, military service, memberships, accomplishments and great passions.
- Education and interests: schools attended, degrees received, vocation and hobbies.
- Services: accurate details of visitation times, the funeral or memorial service, mass and burial.
- Closing: any charities or memorial funds for donations in the person's memory.
You might also publicly thank people or groups who cared for the deceased, or include a short poem or prayer.
Help people find it
If the family has an online memorial or funeral-home notice, the newspaper version can invite readers to view it. Consider sending the obituary to newspapers in other places where the person lived or worked, so that former friends and colleagues see it too.
Verify every detail
Check every name, date, place and relationship with another family member before submitting. Errors are difficult to correct once an obituary is in print, and the notice may later be used by relatives and researchers as a record of the person's life.