Writing an Obituary

Customary information includes:

1. Full legal name of the deceased (nickname may be included in parenthesis)
2. City or town of residence
   1. To avoid having the residence robbed while the family is attending the calling hours and funeral, specific information about the residence of the deceased and relatives should never be published.
3. Relative list including:
   1. Predeceased list (relatives who have died)
   2. Survived by list (relatives that are still alive)
      1. Parents
      2. Sons
      3. Daughters
      4. Grandchildren
      5. Great Grandchildren
      6. Sisters
      7. Brothers
4. Work history
5. Place and time of the funeral and any calling hours
6. Place of burial
7. Optional information could include:
   1. Special interests such as hobbies
   2. Associations (such as membership in local or national organizations.
   3. Special Affiliations (such as volunteer work for the A.S.P.C.A., etc.)
   4. Military service

Obituaries can be written at the time of death or before. Many people find it helpful to write their own obituary notice in advance for the following reasons:

1. The surviving family members might not remember, or may struggle to remember, specific dates (birth, employment, retirement, previous deaths).
2. They might not know proper spellings of people’s names, places, companies or organizations.
3. They might not know all of the deceased’s memberships to volunteer organizations and community clubs.
4. The self-written obit could specify a favorite charity for donations that the surviving family wouldn’t have thought of.