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Dandelion Seeds

WRITING AN
OBITUARY

What’s involved in writing a good obituary? What information should it include, and how can you find a balance between facts and engaging storytelling? We are here to help.

Including the Basics

A death notice is a simple announcement that contains only the basic relevant facts. While an obituary is a more detailed look at the highlights of someone’s life story.

 

The first of these details included in either a death notice or an obituary would be a full name and any commonly-known nicknames.

 

Other essential details to include when writing either a death notice or an obituary are:

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  • Birthdate and death date

  • Age upon death

  • Birthplace

  • Where the person lived

  • The location (city/state) where they died

  • A list of the surviving relatives

  • Details about the funeral service: date, time, place

Writing
a newspaper folded on a rustic old farmhouse table with a cup of coffee.jpg

Well-Written Obituaries

In writing an obituary you have the opportunity to serve your immediate family, society as a whole, and future generations. In effect, you are recording history on an individual scale. It’s a humbling yet inspiring thought.

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How you document your loved one’s life story is up to you. With that said, we recommend that in addition to the basic facts of a death notice, the obituary could also include these details:

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  • Parents' names

  • Information about the spouse and children

  • Job or career information

  • Personal and professional accomplishments

  • Personal character and interests

  • Influence on his or her community

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It’s now time to sit back and think about the memories you could share to shed some light on your loved one’s character and personal interests. Bring factual details into play whenever you can but help the reader clearly see who your loved one was, how they lived, and what they loved. The more rich in detail, the more memorable the obituary becomes.

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