Obituary Template

Being tasked with writing an obituary is a lot of responsibility. For starters, it is hard to think clearly when you grieving. On top of that, the task of capturing the essence of a person and honouring their spirit is understandably quite a daunting task.

To make life easier for you, during what is surely a trying time, we’ve come up with a list of essential attributes that needed to be included in a good obituary, as well as an obituary template to guide you further.

Biographical Information

When it comes to writing an obituary a good place to start is by gathering all the basic biographical information such as the following

• Full name
• Date of death
• Where the person was residing at the time of death
• Date of birth
• Birthplace
• Names of principal surviving family members such as a spouse and children

Funeral Arrangements

Once you’ve announced the death of the person, you’ll want to give wellwishers the information about paying their respects (provided that you want the public to attend). So provide the following information with regards to the funeral/memorial service :

• Time and Date
• Venue of the memorial or burial
• Information with regards to donations (optional)

A Personal Touch

Once you’ve got the basics out of the way, you can tackle the hardest part of writing an obituary. Capturing the spirit of a loved one is often easier said than done. There might be a lot to say but you’ll have limited space so you’ll need to be strategic because most newspapers charge per word or per line.

Essentially, you need to compose a short paragraph that not only composed what your loved ones did throughout their life but what they were like. Remember, as the person writing the obituary you are likely to have known them best so use your prerogative when choosing which hobbies, passions and personality traits to focus on.

Each and every obituary will be a little different depending on the person you are writing about as well as the circumstances. Regardless, there are certain pieces of information that need to be conveyed so start with the basics and let the piece develop naturally. If you find yourself struggling to put pen to paper, download this obituary template to ensure you cover all the essential elements and don’t forget any fundamental piece of information.