Obituary Format

The ten parts, in order

Parts 1, 6 and 8 are the ones readers actually look for. Everything else can be trimmed, merged or left out entirely without the piece failing to do its job.

The format as an outline

Copy this and write into it. Each line becomes one paragraph of the finished text, in this order.

Written out in paragraphs, that structure produces roughly 250 to 350 words. Complete examples in that shape are collected in the obituary examples, and the same structure with the blanks left in is on the obituary template page.

1. The announcement sentence

The first sentence carries six pieces of information and nothing else: full name, age, town of residence, the verb, the date, and the place of death. Three standard forms, all correct:

• Wendell Roy Kimbrough, 81, of Sedalia, Missouri, died on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at Bothwell Regional Health Center.
• Ruth Anne Delacroix, 87, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, died peacefully at her home on March 10, 2026, surrounded by her family.
• Beatrice Coleman, 96, went home to be with the Lord on April 11, 2026, in Charleston, South Carolina.

A few points of form. The town named is where the person lived, not where they died, so someone who lived in Sedalia and died in a hospital two counties away is still “of Sedalia.” The age goes immediately after the name, set off by commas, and newspapers use figures rather than words. A nickname goes in quotation marks inside the full name, once, and never again.

The cause of death is optional and frequently left out. If it is included it belongs here, as a clause, not as a separate paragraph later.

2–5. The life, in order

The biography runs forward in time and stops. Birth, schooling, military service, work, marriage, community. One or two sentences each. Resist the urge to circle back; a short piece that jumps around in time reads as much longer than it is.

There is one paragraph that sits outside the timeline. After the facts, before the survivors, comes the paragraph about the person: two or three specific things they actually did. It is the only part of the format where the writing matters, and it is the part every reader remembers.

When a newspaper charges by the line, this is the section that gets cut first and the announcement, survivors and service details that survive. That is worth knowing before you write: put the essentials where they cannot be trimmed away, and treat the biography as the flexible part. For what belongs in each stage, what to include in an obituary goes item by item.

6–7. Survivors and those who died first

The survivors list has a conventional order, and using it means nobody has to wonder whether their place in the list says something about them. It runs from the closest relationships outward:

• Spouse or partner, with the town if it differs
• Children, with their spouses in parentheses, with towns
• Grandchildren, then great-grandchildren, usually first names or a count
• Parents, if living
• Siblings, with spouses in parentheses
• A closing group line for nieces, nephews, cousins and friends

The whole list is normally one sentence, with semicolons between the groups and commas inside them. That is why obituaries contain such long sentences; it is a formatting convention, not bad writing. He is survived by his wife, Judith, of Sedalia; his children, Karen Petit (Marc) of Columbia and Dale Kimbrough (Rhonda) of Sedalia; six grandchildren; and his sister, Marlene Buchanan of Warrensburg.

Those who died first get their own short sentence immediately after, with years: He was preceded in death by his son, Roy, in 2011, and by his parents. Some families write “predeceased by,” which means the same thing. Whichever you use, keep it separate from the survivors sentence so a tired reader cannot merge the two.

8. Service details

Service details are written in the future tense and listed in the order they happen. Each line needs a day, a date, a time, a venue name and a street address with the city. A church name alone is not enough for someone driving in from out of state.

Variations that come up often. If the burial is private, say so and stop there: Burial will be private. If there is no service, say that plainly too: At his request, there will be no formal service. If the arrangements are not settled when the notice has to run, write Services will be announced and publish on time rather than missing the deadline. If the service will be streamed, name the platform and say that the link is on the funeral home’s website; a long web address printed in a newspaper is money spent badly.

The same details appear again inside the program, where they are laid out differently: see funeral program format for how the panels are arranged.

9–10. Donations and the closing line

The donations sentence sits at the very end, and it does one of three jobs. It redirects flowers: In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Hughesville Volunteer Fire Department. It accepts both: Flowers are welcome, or a donation to the food pantry in her name. Or it asks for something else entirely: In place of flowers, the family asks that you check on a neighbor.

Name the organization exactly as it is registered, and give a website or a mailing address if there is room. Charities receive gifts every week intended for an organization with a similar name.

A closing line is optional. It is usually a short verse with its reference, a line of thanks to the people who provided care, or a single sentence the family wants last. Long acknowledgements do not belong in an obituary; they belong on the back of the program, and the wording for that is collected in funeral acknowledgement wording.

Where the format changes

Two more places the same text has to fit. In the program, the obituary usually occupies one inside panel, so 150 to 300 words is the practical ceiling; longer text means smaller type, which the older half of the congregation will struggle with. On a memorial page there is no limit at all, which is where a longer life story belongs if the family wants one.

A celebration of life often loosens the opening, leading with a line about the person rather than the announcement, and closes with an invitation instead of a formal service listing. The survivors and the time and place still need to be in the usual positions.

You are allowed to do less than you think

Ten parts is the full format, not a requirement. Four sentences is a complete obituary: who died and when, one line about their life, who survives them, and where the service is. There is no obligation to publish in a newspaper, no minimum word count, and no one is comparing yours to anyone else’s. If this week only allows the short version, take the short obituary examples and stop there with a clear conscience.

Names, dates and typography

Two practical notes on submission. Send plain text, not a formatted document; newspapers and funeral home systems strip formatting, and curly quotes and special dashes sometimes arrive as symbols. If a photograph goes with it, send the largest file you have rather than one pulled from a text message, and expect it to be cropped square or upright.

Once the format is right, the text has to go to the funeral home, to the paper if you are running one, and into the program itself. Reposa keeps one copy and produces all three: a plain-text version to paste into a submission form, and the same obituary set into the funeral program at the size that fits the panel. If you have not written the draft yet, how to write an obituary takes it in six steps, and submitting to a newspaper covers deadlines and cost.