How to Write an Obituary: Step-by-Step Guide with Templates and Examples

Last updated: April 24, 2026 · By the Linkora Editorial Team

If you are sitting down to figure out how to write an obituary — probably for a parent, spouse, or close friend you just lost — this guide walks you through the whole thing in plain steps. We cover the eight sections every obituary includes, free templates you can download, real obituary examples, the best opening and closing phrases, and how modern families are adding a QR code so the story extends beyond the newspaper column.

Why learning how to write an obituary matters

When a parent, spouse, or sibling dies, the obituary is often the first thing family has to write. It ends up in newspapers, funeral home websites, Facebook posts, and family group chats. It becomes the public record of a life and, for many readers, the only piece of writing they will ever read about that person. That is a lot of weight for a few hundred words.

The good news: learning how to write an obituary is a structured task, not a poetry contest. Obituaries follow a well-established order of information, and once you know the structure, the writing becomes a matter of filling in the details with care. This guide walks you through each section, shows you clear examples, and explains how modern families are pairing traditional obituaries with QR-linked digital memorials so the story does not have to end at the column inch. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the average cost of a funeral in the US now exceeds $8,300, and the obituary is one of the few pieces of that experience that lives on publicly long after the service is over.

How to write an obituary: the 8-section anatomy

Whether you are writing for a local newspaper, a funeral home’s memorial site, or a family memorial page, the structure is remarkably consistent. Every good answer to “how to write an obituary” starts with the same scaffold. Think of it as a miniature life narrative with the following eight sections, in this order:

1. Announcement. Full legal name, age, city of residence, date of death, and sometimes the cause.
2. Biographical summary. Birthplace, parents, education, marriage(s), career, service, faith.
3. Personality and passions. What they loved, what made them who they were.
4. Family. Predeceased by and survived by, listed in genealogical order.
5. Service information. Visitation, funeral, burial, reception, streaming link, QR code.
6. Memorial donations. Named charity or cause in lieu of flowers.
7. Tribute line. A closing sentence, favorite quote, or scripture.
8. Photo and link. A recent portrait, plus a QR code or URL to the full digital memorial.

The eight sections of a well-written obituary, in the order readers expect to find them.

How to write an obituary, step 1: the opening announcement

The first sentence does most of the work. Newspaper editors, extended family, and search engines all scan it for the same five data points: name, age, city, date of death, and sometimes cause of death. Keep it factual and warm.

Template:

[Full legal name], [age], of [city, state], passed away on [date] at [place, optional]. [Optional: after a long illness / peacefully at home / surrounded by family].

Example:

Margaret “Peggy” Ann Donovan, 78, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, passed away peacefully on April 17, 2026, at Mercy Medical Center, surrounded by her family.

If cause of death feels too private for a newspaper, leave it out. Families increasingly move the medical details to a private section of a digital memorial instead of printing them.

Step 2: Add a defining sentence

Before diving into biography, add one sentence that captures the person. This is the sentence mourners remember on the drive home from the service.

Peggy was a second-grade teacher for 34 years, a ferocious card-player, and the kind of grandmother who kept a drawer in the kitchen just for grandchildren’s craft supplies.

This line often becomes the subhead or caption when the obituary is shared online. If you are stuck, our guide to finding beautiful things to say when someone dies has dozens of phrasing prompts to help you capture personality without cliché.

Step 3: The biographical summary

Now walk through the life in roughly chronological order. Aim for 150 to 300 words. Cover, as relevant:

• Date and place of birth, parents’ full names (mother’s maiden name included).
• Childhood, schools attended, highest degree earned.
• Military service: branch, rank, years, deployments, honors.
• Marriage(s): spouse’s name, wedding date, and city.
• Career: employer(s), role, years of service, signature accomplishments.
• Faith community, civic memberships, volunteer work, hobbies.

Write in third person, past tense. Spell out acronyms the first time you use them. Double-check dates, school names, and maiden names — this is the single most common place where factual errors creep in, and those errors get preserved forever once the obituary is printed or archived.

Step 4: Capture personality and passions

The biography answers what they did. This section answers who they were. Specific, sensory details beat generic praise every time. “Loved nature” is a blank space; “made us pull over on every road trip to photograph hawks” is a person.

Some prompts that unlock good material:

• What was their signature dish, drink, or holiday tradition?
• What show, team, or book did they never stop talking about?
• What did they say when they answered the phone?
• What hobby would they choose over sleep?
• What phrase did grandchildren imitate?

A single vivid anecdote is worth more than a list of adjectives. If you are gathering these details across a family, a shared Google Doc or the memories section of a digital memorial page can collect everyone’s contributions in one place before you sit down to write.

Step 5: List family members in the right order

Family listings follow a conventional order that readers, especially older ones, expect. Listing names out of order can cause genuine hurt feelings, so take your time here.

Predeceased by (those who died before):

1. Parents
2. Spouse(s)
3. Children
4. Siblings

Survived by (those still living):

1. Spouse, then children (with spouses in parentheses), in birth order
2. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren, usually by count rather than name
3. Siblings (with spouses), in birth order
4. Parents, if still living
5. Nieces, nephews, and other extended family, often summarized

Example:

Peggy was preceded in death by her parents, James and Eleanor Walsh, and her brother, Thomas Walsh. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Robert Donovan; her children, Kathleen (Mark) Reilly of Chicago and Michael (Sarah) Donovan of Des Moines; four grandchildren, Liam, Aiden, Clara, and Nora; her sister, Helen (David) Brennan; and many loving nieces, nephews, and former students.

Double-check every name with the closest surviving relative before the obituary goes to print. If the family tree is complicated (multiple marriages, stepchildren, estranged siblings), most digital memorial platforms let you import a GEDCOM family tree file and present the relationships visually rather than squeezing them all into the column.

Step 6: Service details and what to do in lieu of flowers

After the family listing, shift to logistics. Be specific so readers can plan.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 2026, at Murdoch Funeral Home, 3855 Katz Drive, Marion, Iowa. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 1030 Prospect Place NE, Cedar Rapids, followed by burial at Mount Calvary Cemetery. A reception will follow at the parish hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation or to Mercy Medical Center Hospice.

If the service will be streamed, list the link and the scheduled start time. If you are building a memorial web page, put the livestream embed there and point to a short URL or QR code in the printed obituary so out-of-town family can join without hunting through emails.

Step 7: Close with a tribute line

End the obituary with one or two sentences that feel like a final blessing. Options that work well:

• A favorite saying the person used.
• A line from a hymn, poem, or scripture they loved.
• A short tribute from the family (“We are proud to have been her children”).
• A dedication of the memorial fund.

Avoid filler (“She will be missed”). If you want help finding language, the Linkora obituary writing kit includes more than 80 tested opening and closing lines organized by tone — faith-centered, secular, humorous, military, and brief.

Step 8: Add a photo, and consider a QR code

Newspapers still charge by the column inch, so obituaries have stayed short even as families want to share more. That gap is exactly where modern QR code memorials come in. Print a small QR code next to the photo — readers scan it with their phone and land on a private memorial page with full photo galleries, video tributes, the order of service, a guest book, and a livestream link.

This approach preserves the dignity of a traditional obituary while giving the family somewhere richer to point grieving visitors. For a side-by-side comparison of the two formats, see our post on QR code memorial versus traditional obituary.

How to write an obituary: three short examples you can adapt

Simple obituary example (150 words)

James “Jim” Robert Carter, 82, of Asheville, North Carolina, passed away peacefully at home on April 18, 2026.

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 3, 1943, Jim was the son of the late Samuel and Ruth Carter. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1965 and served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1970. He spent 38 years as a civil engineer with the North Carolina Department of Transportation and was an active member of First Presbyterian Church.

Jim is survived by his wife of 56 years, Elizabeth; his sons, David (Megan) and Paul (Jennifer); five grandchildren; and his sister, Margaret Alvarez.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 26, at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Habitat for Humanity of Buncombe County.

Scan the QR code on the back of the program to view photos and share a memory.

Heartfelt obituary for a mother (200 words)

Eleanor Grace Whitfield, 74, of Savannah, Georgia, slipped quietly into glory on April 20, 2026, with her daughters holding her hands and her favorite Willie Nelson album playing.

Eleanor was born in Macon on February 14, 1951, the youngest of five. She met Harold Whitfield at a church potluck in 1972 and married him three months later, a decision she called “the fastest and best” of her life. Together they raised three daughters and one very spoiled golden retriever.

She was a nurse at Memorial Health for 41 years, a passionate gardener, a fierce Bridge player, and the unofficial grandmother to every child on Pine Bluff Lane.

Eleanor is survived by her husband, Harold; daughters, Sarah (Tom) Hughes, Amanda (Chris) Patel, and Julia Whitfield; and six grandchildren she called her “wild bunch.”

A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. on April 27 at Bonaventure Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please plant something.

“She left every room a little brighter than she found it.”

Brief obituary example (75 words)

Thomas Michael O’Brien, 67, of Boston, Massachusetts, passed away on April 19, 2026. He is survived by his wife, Anne; son, Patrick (Lisa); daughter, Megan Callahan; and four grandchildren. A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Brigid’s Parish. Memorial contributions may be made to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. A full memorial with photos and tributes is available at the QR code below.

Need more examples? We have a gallery of 20 more in the obituary writing kit, organized by length, faith tradition, and relationship (parent, spouse, child, friend).

Free obituary templates: Word and PDF

A template is most useful when you are writing under time pressure, which is nearly always. A good obituary template reserves slots for each of the eight sections above and includes suggested phrasing that you can keep or delete. Families often search for how to write an obituary template they can fill in offline, or a specific template like how to write an obituary for a mother with ready-made phrasing for a parent — both of which are included in the kit below.

Our free obituary writing kit includes:

• A fill-in-the-blank obituary template in Word format (.docx).
• A print-ready obituary template in PDF with space for a photo and QR code.
• A checklist of facts to gather before you start writing.
• Sample opening and closing lines organized by tone.
• A guide to newspaper character limits for the 50 largest US papers.

If you are coordinating a service as well, pair the template with our funeral program template guide so the two documents reinforce each other.

Best obituary phrases for every tone

Families often ask for wording help at the opening, the biographical close, the family listing, and the final line. Here are phrases that have felt right for real families we have worked with.

Opening phrases:

• “passed away peacefully surrounded by family”
• “entered eternal rest”
• “left this world”
• “was called home”
• “passed into the loving arms of…”

Bridging phrases into biography:

• “Born on [date], [name] was the [oldest / youngest] of [n] children…”
• “[Name]’s life was shaped early by…”
• “Those who knew [name] remember…”

Family-listing phrases:

• “is survived by her loving husband…”
• “leaves behind to cherish her memory…”
• “is preceded in death by her beloved parents…”

Closing phrases:

• “She left every room a little brighter than she found it.”
• “His legacy lives on in every child he coached and every neighbor he helped.”
• “In her own words: ‘Be kind. Plant flowers. Call your mother.'”
• “May her memory be a blessing.”
• “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

How to write an obituary and submit it to a newspaper

Most newspapers still accept obituaries through the funeral home. If you are working with a funeral director, they will submit the text to your chosen paper (or papers) and bill you for the space. If you are self-publishing or adding to a second paper, here is the usual process:

1. Find the paper’s obituary submission page (usually under “Obituaries” or “Legacy.com”).
2. Copy your final obituary into their submission form and upload a photo.
3. Pick the publish date. Most papers need 24 to 48 hours’ notice.
4. Review the cost quote. US newspapers charge anywhere from $100 to $1,500 depending on length, photo, and color.
5. Approve the proof before it runs. Typos in newspaper obituaries are very hard to fix after the fact.

Always keep a digital master of the full, unedited obituary on your family’s memorial page so future relatives and researchers can find the complete version, not just the print-limited one.

Common obituary mistakes (and how to write an obituary without them)

• Omitting a surviving family member. Send the final draft to at least two close relatives before publishing. Most complaints come from missing or misordered names.
• Overlong sentences. Short, declarative sentences read better out loud, which is how obituaries are often shared.
• Medical detail that feels intrusive. If you are not sure, leave it out. A digital memorial page can carry longer-form context for those who want it.
• Missing service logistics. Date, time, address, and dress-code notes (if any) belong in the obituary itself, not in a separate Facebook post.
• No photo. Readers engage dramatically more with obituaries that include a recent, well-lit photo.
• No lasting link. A printed obituary disappears. A QR code linking to a digital memorial page keeps the story discoverable for decades.

Modernizing the obituary: QR codes, guest books, and living memorials

The traditional obituary was designed for newsprint — short, paid by the word, archived on microfilm. Families today want something more. They want the full story, the photo reels, the eulogies, the livestream, the scattered thank-you notes, and they want it in one place that is easy to share and easy to keep.

That is what Linkora’s memorial pages are built for. A single QR code, etched on the back of a funeral program or on the headstone itself, links to a private memorial the family controls. Visitors scan, no app required, and see:

• The full obituary, unconstrained by newspaper length limits.
• Photo and video galleries the family curates.
• A shared guest book for stories, condolences, and memories.
• A GEDCOM-imported family tree that places the person in context.
• Service details, directions, livestream links, and donation information.

Trusted by more than 500 families who have preserved 12,000+ photos and counting, Linkora is built for real families — accessible, intuitive, and designed to be handed down across generations. If you are a funeral director, monument dealer, or cemetery administrator, see our partner program for funeral homes, which bundles Linkora memorials into your existing service packages.

Frequently asked questions about writing an obituary

How long should an obituary be?

Most newspaper obituaries run 150 to 400 words. Online obituaries have no word limit, and a full digital memorial often runs 800 to 2,000 words with additional photos and video. A good rule: write the full version first, then trim a shorter version for print. Keep the long version on your memorial page and link to it with a QR code.

Who should write the obituary?

Usually one person drafts it — often the oldest adult child, the surviving spouse, or a family member comfortable with writing. Then at least two close relatives should review and approve before it goes to the funeral home or newspaper. Factual errors and omitted family members are the most common regrets.

Should I include the cause of death in the obituary?

It is your family’s choice. Many families now write “passed away peacefully” or “after a long illness” without specifying the exact cause, especially in the printed version. If you want to share the cause of death (for example, to raise awareness for a particular disease), a digital memorial page is a good place to include it with more context than a newspaper column allows.

What is the difference between an obituary and a eulogy?

An obituary is written for print and online publication, summarizing the life in third person for a broad audience. A eulogy is a spoken tribute delivered at the funeral or memorial service, usually in first person, and focused on personal stories rather than biographical facts. If you are writing both, our eulogy builder tool helps you draft one from scratch.

Is there a free obituary template I can download?

Yes. Our free obituary writing kit includes a fill-in-the-blank template in Word and PDF formats, a checklist of facts to gather, and sample opening and closing lines. It is designed to be usable under stress — the version most families are writing in.

Can I update an obituary after it’s published?

A printed newspaper obituary is permanent, but online versions (on Legacy.com, a funeral home’s site, or a digital memorial platform) can usually be updated. One of the reasons families move to QR-linked memorials is that the page behind the code can be corrected, expanded, and added to over time — something the newspaper version can never offer.

Final thoughts on how to write an obituary

Knowing how to write an obituary is one of the last acts of love you will perform for someone. It does not need to be perfect, but it does need to be true — true to the facts, true to the person, and true to how the family wants them remembered. Use the eight-section structure as scaffolding, draw on templates and examples for language when you are stuck, and then let the details of the actual life take over. For broader end-of-life planning guidance, the Funeral Basics guide from the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association is a useful independent reference.

And when the obituary is done, do not let it be the end of the story. A printed obituary is a single, short moment in time. A digital memorial is a space the whole family can return to for decades — adding photos, writing new tributes on anniversaries, introducing grandchildren to a grandparent they never met. If you are ready to build that space, claim a Linkora memorial and start with the obituary you just wrote.