

Essential Elements of an Obituary
1. Announcement of death
2. Biographical Sketch
3. Family
4. Service Times
5. Special Messages
6. Photos
Example Obituaries

It enlists the aid of our community, whose support we will need in the coming days weeks and months. Most immediately, the obituary serves to identify and communicate to the community the passing of our loved one, and to announce visitation, service, burial and memorial information.

In the obituary we also want to present the significant events and attributes of the deceased, to note that person’s impact on their family and the world around them, and acknowledge the family members they held dear. Unfortunately, many of the obituaries we see in the newspaper and on the web fail to convey the personality or contributions of the deceased in a meaningful way. They are prepared in haste, in fog of grief, and the stress of meeting a newspaper deadline. Instead of a meaningful tribute, they often become a string of hackneyed phrases punctuated by fill-in-the-blanks of personal information.

We hope that this step-by-step guide to preparing an obituary will help you craft an obituary that conveys the personality of your loved one, and clearly communicates service times and other vital information.

Conventionality in formatting allows for readers to find the service times, and quickly determine whether the deceased is someone they know. In different areas of the country there are different conventions and standard formats for obituaries. will help you The larger the population served by a newspaper, the more likely it is that a very abbreviated notice, giving only the barest of information, will be the norm. In more rural areas, the newspapers may not even charge for running obituaries, leading to more flowery phrases and the inclusion of more biographic information. Today, many obituaries are published in two versions; an abbreviated form for the newspaper, and a more detailed version that is read online at the funeral home website, or on other memorial sites. When preparing an obituary it is wise to look over the conventional form used in your local paper and organise yours similarly; facilitating the clear communication of service times and survivors.

A funeral home or cemetery can provide you with all the relevant information that is recognised in your specific locale, and will help assist you in preparing and placing the obituary for your loved one in a timely and proper manner.


1. Announcement of Death


2. Biographical Sketch





3. Family


4. Service Times

5. Special Messages

6. Photos
Photos add to the cost of an obituary, but can be a pleasant reminder of the person we miss, and a useful way for readers to recognise our loved one among all the other obituaries. This value of identification is usually lost if a 40 year old photo is used.

It’s a great treat to see old photos and to be reminded of all the living that happened before old age and death, but if friends don’t recognise the person in the photo, they may not read the obituary. If you feel that you must use a dated photo, include a recent shot as well.

Like a miniature funeral, the purposes of an obituary are; acknowledging the passing of one of us, celebrating the gifts that the person’s life brought to us, sharing parts of a life that we may not all be aware of, and expressing the grief of our loss. Like a funeral, what makes the difference in an obituary is the loving participation of the family. The obituary that is the most meaningful not necessarily the one that runs in a big metropolitan newspaper, or has the most column inches, but the one that is a well thought out work of the heart; one that is informative, expressive, and easy to read.

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