Obituary Examples & Writing Templates

An obituary has two jobs: preserve facts and show a person

Accuracy comes before style. Confirm names, dates, family relationships, organizations, service details, donation links, military information, and titles with the people authorized to approve the notice.

After the facts are stable, choose a few details that make the person recognizable: work they cared about, a community role, a routine, a value, a hobby, a place, or the way they treated people.

Different destinations need different lengths. A paid newspaper notice may need compression, while a funeral-home or family memorial page can include a fuller life narrative and additional photographs.

Treat publication as permanent. Obituaries are often copied, indexed, screenshotted, and shared. Avoid home addresses, private phone numbers, unnecessary medical details, and information about living relatives that the family does not want public.