Examples of an Obituary Article

What does an obituary look like? Although an obituary is optional, you may want to consider writing one for the following reasons:

1. An obituary is an announcement of the death to the community. There may be people within the community that the you may not know who would want to hear of the death of you loved one.

2. An obituary is an invitation to attend the funeral or memorial service. The location, date and time of the service is noted at the end of the obituary. This can alert those who knew the deceased to attend without having to notify everyone the deceased knew.

3. An obituary is a permanent record. Many people save the obituary as a keepsake or memorial of the deceased and keep it for many years. Some placing it in a scrapbook or frame.

4. An obituary is a chance to celebrate a person’s life and accomplishments. It can be a means of highlighted and paying tribute to your loved one’s life.

Some important items to include in an obituary layout would be the deceased full name, age, date and place of death. You can also indicate the cause or description of death if you would like. Note the date and place of birth and the surviving family members by name and relation.

Write a summary of their profession, where they attended school, service to the community, military service and faith. You can also note any memberships the deceased was involved in.

You can close the chronological events section with a personal message from the deceased before they died, if applicable or write a personal note of thanks and gratitude.

At the end of the obituary, you should note the date, time and place of the memorial or funeral service. If there is no service, its a good idea to mention this as well. Include the name of the officiant, if desired, and the place of burial.

If there will be an honorarium or donation in lieu of flowers, state this after the life facts and before the funeral service location. Once you have completed writing the obituary, you can also use it to include in the funeral or memorial program. If you submitted a shorter version to the newspaper due to space limitations, the funeral or memorial program serves as a good venue of publishing the obituary in its entirety.

For more funeral obituary resources, visit The Funeral Program Site where you will find a wealth of information that can assist you in the details of the funeral or memorial service. This website offers beautiful funeral programs that highlight your loved one’s life, obituary help, poems, readings, and scripture verses.