What information should be in an obituary?

At minimum: the full name, age, town, and the date of death. Then a short life summary, the names of close surviving and predeceased family, and the service details if there are any. Everything else, the stories and detail, is what makes it worth reading.

How long should an obituary be?

It depends on where it runs. Newspapers charge by length and many obituaries are two hundred to five hundred words. Online, where space is free, you can write as much as you like. A good middle ground is enough to cover the facts and three or four real details about who they were.

What is the difference between an obituary and a eulogy?

An obituary is a written notice, usually published, that announces the death, gives the facts, and lists service details. A eulogy is a spoken tribute given at the service. The obituary informs; the eulogy remembers. They overlap, but the obituary carries the practical information people need.

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May 28, 20267 min read

How to Write an Obituary (Template and Examples)

An obituary has a real job to do. It announces that someone has died, it gives people the facts they need, and it honors the person. That is three jobs at once, which is why it can feel stiff to write. But an obituary does not have to read like a form. The best ones do all three things and still sound like the person they are about.

What to include

Before you worry about the writing, gather the facts. Most obituaries cover the same core information, and having it in front of you makes the rest easier.

Full name, including a nickname or maiden name if it is how people knew them, plus age and the town they lived in.
The date they died, and sometimes where and how, though you never have to share the cause.
A short summary of their life: where they were born, what they did, the things that defined them.
Family: those who survive them and those who went before, usually by name and relationship.
Service details: the date, time, and place of any funeral, celebration of life, or gathering.
Where to send donations or flowers, if the family has a preference.

A simple template

If a blank page is the problem, start by filling in the bones, then rewrite it in your own words. This skeleton works for almost anyone:

Template

[Full name], [age], of [town], died on [date]. [He or she or they] was born on [date] in [place] to [parents]. [One or two sentences on their life: work, passions, what they were known for.] [A few personal details or a short story that shows who they were.] [Name] is survived by [family]. [He or she or they] was preceded in death by [family]. A [service type] will be held on [date] at [time] at [place]. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to [cause].

An example

Filled in, with a little life in it, the same skeleton reads like this:

Example

Margaret Ellen Doyle, 81, of Asheville, died peacefully at home on March 4th. Born in 1944 in Galway, Ireland, she came to North Carolina at twenty-three with one suitcase and a recipe for brown bread she guarded like a state secret. She taught third grade for thirty-one years, and half the town can still recite the poem she made them memorize. She is survived by her husband, Tom, three children, and seven grandchildren who never once left her house hungry. A celebration of her life will be held on March 15th at 2pm at St. Brigid's. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the local library, where she volunteered every Tuesday for twenty years.

Write it like a person, not a form

The facts are the easy part. What lifts an obituary is the same thing that lifts a eulogy: specific detail. The brown bread, the poem, the seven grandchildren who never left hungry. Those lines are doing more work than any list of accomplishments. One true, particular detail tells people more about who someone was than a paragraph of general praise.

A few practical notes

Newspapers usually charge by length, so confirm the cost and word limit before you write for print. Online obituaries are typically free and unlimited.
Double-check names, dates, and spellings with family. These are the details people notice, and the ones that hurt to get wrong.
An obituary is short by nature. It is the announcement, not the whole story. The fuller picture, more photos, more memories, more voices, is what an online memorial is for, and the two work well together: the obituary points people to the place where the rest of the person lives.

Common questions

What information should be in an obituary?: At minimum: the full name, age, town, and the date of death. Then a short life summary, the names of close surviving and predeceased family, and the service details if there are any. Everything else, the stories and detail, is what makes it worth reading.
How long should an obituary be?: It depends on where it runs. Newspapers charge by length and many obituaries are two hundred to five hundred words. Online, where space is free, you can write as much as you like. A good middle ground is enough to cover the facts and three or four real details about who they were.
What is the difference between an obituary and a eulogy?: An obituary is a written notice, usually published, that announces the death, gives the facts, and lists service details. A eulogy is a spoken tribute given at the service. The obituary informs; the eulogy remembers. They overlap, but the obituary carries the practical information people need.