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Obituary Examples for a Grandfather

Complete obituaries for a grandfather, ready to copy and change, plus what to do when the man you are writing about never told anyone much about himself.
8 min readWritten by the Reposa team
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What is different about writing for a grandfather

The usual problem with a grandfather’s obituary is not grief. It is evidence. A lot of men of that generation never narrated their own lives. They did not tell their children where they were stationed, what the job actually involved, or what the plant paid, and so the family sits down to write and finds that everybody in the room is guessing. Before you draft, go looking for paper: the discharge papers, often a DD-214 in a safe deposit box or a folder with the deed, a union card, a pension statement, the back of a photograph, the program from his own father’s funeral. His wife, if she is living, knows more than his children do.

If he served, the service line is the sentence most likely to be wrong and most likely to be noticed. Branch, years, and one place is the whole job. “He served in the United States Army from 1965 to 1967, including one tour in Vietnam” is complete. Do not upgrade a rank, invent a unit, or attach a medal you have not seen written down. The funeral home will need proof of service anyway, because military funeral honors, the folded flag and the playing of Taps, are provided at no cost for eligible veterans and have to be requested. Ask about that on the first call. The honor guard has to be scheduled.

Then the work, which for many men was the story whether or not it made them happy. Say the job and the number of years, and name the employer even if that employer no longer exists. “Thirty-three years on the hot mill at Lakebend Steel” tells a reader in that county everything at once: the shift work, the money, the noise, the fact that it ended. If he had a trade, name the trade. If he was proud of something small and specific, put it in. It will be truer than any summary of his character.

Be careful, too, about smoothing him into a nicer man than he was. Some grandfathers were quiet, some were hard, some were both, and a notice describing a taciturn man as a warm and outgoing friend to all will read as false to everyone who knew him. You are allowed to write about a difficult person honestly and briefly. “He was not a man who said much” is a real sentence and a kind one. You are also allowed to do less than you think: a short, plain, accurate notice is a form of respect, and nobody at the graveside is counting words.

Complete examples

Every name, town and employer below is invented. Copy whichever is closest to your situation and change the details line by line. Most people have a first draft inside twenty minutes that way.

Short obituary for a farmer and veteran

100 words · paid newspaper notice

Vernon Leroy Tibbetts, 91, of Fort Rowan, Maine, died at home on January 27, 2026.

Vernon was born on October 3, 1934 in Elmvale. He served in the United States Army from 1955 to 1957, grew potatoes for thirty-eight years on the farm his father started, and plowed out his neighbors for another twenty winters without ever sending a bill.

He is survived by his wife of sixty-six years, Arlene; his sons, Dale and Wayne (Sheri); six grandchildren; and eleven great-grandchildren.

Graveside services with military honors will be held at Fort Rowan Cemetery in the spring, when the ground opens.

Standard obituary for a mill worker, with military honors

237 words · funeral home website

Clarence Edward “Bud” Nowak, 87, of Lakebend, Indiana, died on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at Riverbend Hospital, after a long illness.

Bud was born on June 8, 1938 in Lakebend, the son of Stanislaw and Helena Nowak. He graduated from Lakebend High School in 1956 and was drafted into the United States Army in 1957, serving two years in Korea after the armistice, mostly, he said, in the cold.

He came home, married Genevieve Sobczak at St. Casimir Church in 1961, and hired on at Lakebend Steel, where he worked the hot mill for thirty-three years. He belonged to the union hall on Kennard Avenue for as long as there was one.

Bud kept a garden that fed four households, made kielbasa every fall with his brother-in-law, and ran a workshop in the garage where he repaired other people’s small engines and would not be paid for it.

He is survived by his wife of sixty-four years, Genevieve; his children, Edward Nowak (Lisa) of Lakebend and Diane Kowal (Jeff) of Millgate; seven grandchildren, Bradley, Kaitlyn, Nicholas, Erin, Cole, Maren and Joseph; and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Ted, and his sister, Wanda Piotrowski.

Visitation will be held Sunday, March 15, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Kaczmarek Funeral Home. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. Monday at St. Casimir Church, with military honors at Lakebend Memorial Cemetery.

Full obituary for thirty-one years on the railroad

360 words · funeral home page or memorial website

Arthur Ramón “Art” Delgado, 86, of Valdez Junction, Colorado, died on Sunday, November 8, 2026, at his home, with his wife and his three daughters in the room.

Art was born on April 4, 1940 in Valdez Junction, the second of eight children of Ramón and Josefina Delgado. His father worked for the railroad, and Art assumed he would too, which he did, for thirty-one years.

He graduated from Valdez Junction High School in 1958, worked two seasons in the beet fields, and was drafted in 1965. He served two years in the United States Army, including one tour in Vietnam. He came home in 1967 and did not talk about it, except twice.

He married Elena Marie Sandoval on June 12, 1969 at San Isidro Catholic Church, where they were members for the rest of his life.

Art hired on with the Rio Verde Railway in 1968 as a carman and retired in 1999 as a yardmaster. He was proud of never having missed a shift, and slightly embarrassed about how proud he was.

He coached girls' softball for nineteen seasons, most of them after his own daughters had stopped playing. He belonged to the VFW post on Alameda Street and to the Holy Name Society at San Isidro. He grew chiles, gave them away by the sackful, and judged everyone else’s salsa in silence.

He was hard on his daughters about school and soft on his grandchildren about everything.

He is survived by his wife of fifty-seven years, Elena; his daughters, Rosalinda Delgado of Kettle Rock, Marisol Ortega (Tony) of Valdez Junction, and Andrea Delgado-Kim (David) of Port Alder, Washington; eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and his sisters, Lupe Archuleta and Bernadette Delgado. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Ramón Jr., Fidel and Manuel; and his grandson, Andrés.

A rosary will be prayed at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 20, at Vigil and Salazar Funeral Home. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 21, at San Isidro Catholic Church, with military honors and burial at Cerro Verde Cemetery.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Valdez Junction girls' softball league.

Standard obituary, when there is very little on paper

197 words · funeral home website

Harlan Dean Sizemore, 81, of Beaver Gap, Kentucky, died on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at his daughter’s house.

Harlan was born on February 2, 1945 in Harkins Fork. He went into the Number Six mine at seventeen and came out at fifty-two, when his lungs made the decision for him.

He married Doris Combs in 1965. They were married for sixty-one years.

Harlan did not talk about himself, and this notice is short for that reason and no other. What his family knows for certain: he could fix a truck with what was in the truck. He kept bees. He paid for two funerals that were not his to pay for and never mentioned it. He was called Papaw by more children than were his.

He is survived by his wife, Doris; his daughters, Loretta Mullins (Danny) and Sheila Sizemore; his son, Dean Sizemore; nine grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and his sister, Ella Mae Bentley. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clell and Nannie Sizemore, and by his son, Bobby.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, April 17, at Whitt and Coleman Funeral Home, with burial at Sizemore Cemetery on Harkins Fork.

Phrases you can borrow

These are the lines families reach for when the plain facts are down and the obituary still feels flat.

  • “He served in the United States Army from 1965 to 1967, including one tour in Vietnam.”

    Branch, years, one place. That is the whole sentence. Check it against his discharge papers, not against family memory.

  • “He worked thirty-three years on the hot mill, and the plant closed six years after he retired.”

    Naming work that no longer exists is honest and locally legible. Anyone from that county knows what the sentence means.

  • “He was not a man who said much, and he did not need to be.”

    The most useful line there is for a quiet man, and far better than claiming a warmth he never performed.

  • “He kept every tool he ever bought and knew where each one was.”

    Concrete, a little funny, and true of a great many men. Swap in his own version of it.

  • “He came home in 1967 and did not talk about it, except twice.”

    For a veteran who never discussed his service. It says more than a paragraph and does not claim to know what he carried.

  • “He taught all eight grandchildren to drive, and none of them in a parking lot.”

    The grandchildren’s version of him is legitimate material. Pick the one thing he did with every one of them.

  • “He was called Papaw by more children than were his.”

    For the grandfather half the neighborhood claimed. Works well for stepchildren and for the grandchildren of friends.

  • “He fought a long and courageous battle.”

    Worth avoiding. Illness metaphors imply a man can lose by not trying hard enough. “Died on March 12 after a long illness” reads as respect.

  • “He was a man of few words but many deeds.”

    A stock line that readers skim straight past. One deed, named, does the whole job.

  • “Military honors will be provided at the graveside.”

    Print it only once the funeral home has confirmed the honor guard. Availability changes, and families have had to explain it standing at the grave.

What to watch for

  • Find the discharge papers before you write the military line · A DD-214 gives branch, dates, rank and awards, and the funeral home needs it anyway. Look in a safe deposit box, in the folder with the deed, or at the county recorder, where many veterans filed a copy.
  • Ask about military honors on the first call · The flag and the playing of Taps are provided at no cost for eligible veterans, but the honor guard has to be requested and scheduled. Do not put it in the notice until it is confirmed.
  • Ask the men he worked with · A foreman, a union brother, the neighbor he fished with. They often hold facts his own children never heard, and one phone call usually produces the detail that makes the obituary his.
  • Name the employer even if it is gone · Closed plants, folded railroads and small shops are how a town remembers a working life. Thirty-one years with a named railway is worth more than a sentence about how hard he worked.
  • Use the name the grandchildren used · Put it in quotation marks after the legal name, or give it a line of its own: he was Papaw to nine. Papa, Pop, Pap, Papaw, Abuelo and Nonno all belong in print.
  • Check the post, lodge or hall · The VFW, American Legion, Knights of Columbus, Masons and many unions will conduct a short rite at the visitation if asked, and they need a day’s notice. Name the membership in the obituary either way.
  • Do not upgrade him · No invented rank, no medal nobody has seen, no job title he never held. Old coworkers and other veterans read these closely, and a correction after publication is a wound the family does not need.
  • Keep the first sentence plain · Name, age, town, date, and where he died. Everything else can wait a line. Plain openings age better than dramatic ones, and they are far easier to cut down for the newspaper.

The general rules on length, the order of survivors and what to leave out are on the main obituary examples page, and the step-by-step method is in how to write an obituary.

Other relationships

Common questions

He never talked about himself. Where do we find the facts?
Paper first: discharge papers, a union card, a pension statement, an old resume, the backs of photographs, the program from his own parents’ funeral. Then people: his wife if she is living, his oldest sibling, a coworker, the neighbor he had coffee with. Two phone calls usually produce more than an afternoon of the family trying to remember together.
How do we word the military service if we are not sure of the details?
Stay general rather than guessing. “He served in the United States Navy” is accurate and dignified on its own. Add years and a place only when you have seen them written down. If the discharge papers do not turn up before the newspaper deadline, keep the sentence broad and correct, then add the detail later on the funeral home page, which can be edited.
He was divorced from our grandmother and remarried. What do we say?
Name the marriage that was current at his death, with the year: he is survived by his wife of twenty-two years, Marlene. Then name his children without editorializing. Some families add one line, that he was previously married to the mother of his children, and some leave it out. Say it plainly if you say it, and do not explain.
What is the difference between military honors and a VFW service?
Military funeral honors are performed by uniformed service members. The flag is folded and presented to the next of kin and Taps is played, and eligible veterans are entitled to this at no cost. The funeral home makes that request. A VFW or American Legion service is separate, arranged directly with the post, and usually held during the visitation.
He was not religious. Does the obituary have to sound like he was?
No. Plenty of obituaries carry no religious language at all and readers do not blink. Use died rather than a phrase about heaven, hold the service at the funeral home or a hall, and end with whatever he actually wanted. If part of the family wants a prayer and part does not, a service can hold both more comfortably than a printed notice can.
He would have hated a fuss. Can we keep it very short?
Yes. A dignified notice can run sixty words: name, age, town, date, one true sentence about his life, the closest survivors, and the service details. Short does not read as neglect. It reads as a family who knew him. If you want more room for the people who need it, put the longer version on the funeral home page and keep the newspaper notice brief.

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