Similar to death notices, obituaries are a type of editorial piece written to announce the death of a specific person. An obituary is a written statement sharing news of the passing of a person. An obituary not only shares a birth date and a death date, but it also typically includes at least one photograph of the person, as well as highlights about their achievements or even personality.
An obituary is a short summary of the person’s life, typically including names of family members, funeral or memorial service arrangements, and preferences regarding flowers and donations. As mentioned above, an obituary typically includes the names of those immediate family members and friends surviving the person who died, and also of those who preceded the death of the person. If the deceased was close with his or her cousins, you may wish to include these names in the section survived by an obituary.
As family members, you will want to make sure to memorialize the deceased person or have someone designated to write an obituary. You may even want to choose a family member or a friend who will assist with writing an obituary. Other people, like extended family members or close friends, may be listed in an obituary, too, if you believe that your loved one would want to include others.
Simple Obituary Templates
An obituary should always include the deceased’s full name, as well as a nickname if he or she had one. While this is an important piece of information to include, remember the obituary is a final opportunity for telling people about the life the deceased lived and the contributions that the deceased made to their community. The purpose of an obituary is to inform the public at large about the person’s recent death, as well as provide information about the individual and any related memorial services, including to people who might have been less intimate with the deceased over the past few years.
Many will say the overall purpose of an obituary is to communicate a person’s recent death, as well as provide unique information about the deceased, including one’s accomplishments, notable achievements, and details of services. The city or town of residence, place, cause of death, age of the individual, and the date the deceased died including year are all essential facts to include in writing an obituary. Any information that you can include includes the date of death (and the approximate time, if it is available); where the death occurred, and the cause of death.
You are not required to include the cause of death in an obituary; though, doing so might prevent you from explaining the circumstances repeatedly. You will begin with the basic announcement of the death, which states plainly what happened to your loved one (name, age, hometown).An obituary can be written for death notices in newspapers, or for the funeral program, prayer cards, and memorial keepsakes. You can collaborate with another family member or friend to revise the writing of an obituary, making sure that all facts are correct and that no ones missing from a family listing.