TL;DR — Using an Obituary Template
- An obituary template is a fill-in-the-blank framework that walks you through every part of an obituary, so you are never staring at a blank page during a painful week.
- Every obituary follows the same simple skeleton: the announcement, the life story, the surviving family, and the service details. Get those four parts right and the rest falls into place.
- This guide gives you four ready-to-use templates — a short notice, a standard traditional obituary, a longer detailed tribute, and a cremation version — that you can copy, paste, and personalize.
- Newspaper obituaries are charged by length and can run from under $100 in small towns to well over $1,200 in major metro papers, while an online memorial page lets you write as much as you like at no per-word cost.
- Once the words are written, a QR code memorial gives the obituary a permanent home where family and friends can keep adding photos, stories, and tributes long after the service.
Why a Template Helps at the Hardest Time
Writing an obituary is one of the few pieces of writing most people do only a handful of times in their lives, and always under the worst possible circumstances. You are grieving, the funeral home needs the text quickly, and the words have to honor an entire life in a few short paragraphs. It is no wonder so many families feel stuck. A good obituary template removes the hardest part — the blank page — by giving you a clear structure to fill in, one calm section at a time.
This guide is built to be practical. Below you will find the anatomy of an obituary explained in plain language, four copy-and-paste templates for different needs, a step-by-step way to fill them in, and a realistic look at what publishing costs. If you would like a deeper walkthrough of the craft of writing once your template is filled in, our step-by-step guide to writing an obituary is the natural companion to this page.
What Is an Obituary Template?
An obituary template is a reusable framework that lays out each part of an obituary in order, with prompts and placeholders where your loved one’s details go. Instead of inventing a structure from nothing, you replace the bracketed prompts — [full name], [age], [hometown] — with the real information. The template guarantees you will not forget an important element, like a surviving family member or the service time, and it keeps the tone steady even when your own focus is scattered.
In one sentence: An obituary template is a fill-in-the-blank outline of the standard parts of an obituary, designed so you can produce a complete, respectful tribute by replacing the prompts with your own details.
The Anatomy of an Obituary
Nearly every obituary, whether it runs eighty words or eight hundred, is built from the same handful of building blocks. Understanding them makes any template easy to use, because you will recognize what each blank is asking for.
1. The announcement
The opening line states the death plainly and with dignity: the person’s full name, their age, the town where they lived, and the date they passed. Many families add a soft phrase here, such as “peacefully at home surrounded by family.” This is the single required part — everything else builds on it.
2. The life story
This is the heart of the obituary. It covers where and when they were born, key milestones like marriage, military service, education and career, and the details that made them them — their faith, their hobbies, the way they made people feel. You do not need a complete biography, just the moments that capture a life.
3. The surviving family
Survivors are traditionally listed in order of closeness: spouse and children first, then grandchildren, parents, and siblings. Many obituaries also name those who died before the loved one, introduced with a phrase like “preceded in death by.” Take care with spellings here, as this is the part families read most closely.
4. The service details
If the service is open to the public, include the date, time, and place of the funeral, memorial, or celebration of life. This section often closes with a line directing memorial donations to a chosen charity in place of flowers, and increasingly with a link to an online memorial where people can leave messages.
The announcement, the life story, the surviving family, and the service details are the four building blocks behind every obituary template
The four parts of an obituary template, with a fill-in-the-blank prompt for each.
Four Obituary Templates You Can Copy
Below are four templates for different situations. Copy the one that fits, then replace every prompt in [brackets] with your loved one’s details. Read each one aloud once it is filled in — your ear will catch anything that needs softening. The table below helps you choose the right obituary template at a glance.
Template 1: The short death notice
Best when you need something brief for a newspaper where every line costs money, or when a fuller tribute will live online instead.
[Full name], [age], of [city, state], passed away on [date] at [place of death]. [He/She/They] was born on [birth date] in [birthplace] to [parents’ names].
[First name] is survived by [list closest survivors]. A [funeral / memorial service] will be held on [date] at [time] at [location]. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to [charity].
Template 2: The standard traditional obituary
The most common format, suitable for a newspaper or an online memorial. It tells a fuller story while staying focused.
[Full name], [age], of [city, state], passed away [peacefully / unexpectedly] on [date], surrounded by [family / loved ones].
[First name] was born on [birth date] in [birthplace] to [parents’ names]. [He/She/They] [graduated from / served in / worked as] [key life details]. On [date], [first name] married [spouse], and together they [shared life detail].
Those who knew [first name] will remember [his/her/their] [personality traits, passions, or a short anecdote]. [He/She/They] found joy in [hobbies or activities] and was devoted to [faith, community, or family].
[First name] is survived by [spouse, children, grandchildren, siblings], and was preceded in death by [names]. A service will be held on [date] at [time] at [location]. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to [charity]. To share a memory, visit [memorial page link].
Template 3: The detailed life tribute
A longer, story-driven version that works beautifully online, where there is no charge for length. This is the place to let a personality shine.
It is with [deep sorrow / loving hearts] that we announce the passing of [full name], [age], of [city, state], who left us on [date].
Born [birth date] in [birthplace], [first name] grew up [childhood detail]. [He/She/They] built a life defined by [career, calling, or values], and is remembered for [the trait people loved most]. Whether [example of how they showed up for people] or [a favorite pastime], [first name] [lasting impression they left].
[Add one or two short paragraphs of stories, accomplishments, faith, travels, or the small everyday things that made them unforgettable.]
[First name] leaves behind [full list of survivors with relationships]. [He/She/They] was preceded in death by [names]. The family will gather to celebrate [his/her/their] life on [date] at [time] at [location], and warmly invite all who loved [first name] to attend. Memories, photos, and messages may be shared at [memorial page link].
Template 4: The cremation obituary
Use this when the family has chosen cremation. The structure is identical — only the service language shifts.
[Full name], [age], of [city, state], passed away on [date]. [He/She/They] was born [birth date] in [birthplace] and [short life summary].
[First name] is survived by [survivors]. At [his/her/their] request, [first name] was cremated, and a memorial gathering will be held on [date] at [time] at [location]. [The family will scatter / inter the ashes at a private ceremony.] In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to [charity].
If your family is still weighing options around the service itself, our funeral program template guide and funeral planning checklist pair naturally with whichever obituary template you choose.
How to Fill In Your Template, Step by Step
A template only works if filling it in feels manageable. Here is a gentle order of operations that keeps the task from becoming overwhelming.
Step 1: Gather the facts first
Before you write a word, jot down the essentials on a single sheet: full legal name and nickname, dates and places of birth and death, parents, spouse, and the list of survivors with correct spellings. Having these in front of you means you fill the blanks once and never have to break your focus to hunt for a detail.
Step 2: Write the announcement, then breathe
Complete the opening line and stop. Seeing that first sentence done — the hardest one — often unlocks the rest. There is no rush; an obituary can be written across an afternoon, not in one sitting.
Step 3: Tell one true story
The life-story section comes alive when you include one specific, real detail rather than only general praise. “She never let a neighbor shovel their own driveway” says more than “she was kind.” If a eulogy is also being written, our collection of eulogy examples is a good well to draw from for tone and memories.
Step 4: Confirm the service details
Double-check the date, time, and address of the service with the funeral home before you publish, and decide where mourners can leave condolences. Many families now point readers to an online memorial so distant friends can take part. If people are looking for the words to leave there, our guide to heartfelt condolence messages can help them.
Step 5: Read it aloud and ask one other person
Reading the finished obituary out loud catches awkward phrasing and missed names. Then ask one trusted family member to check it. A second set of eyes almost always spots a survivor who was left off or a date that slipped.
What It Costs to Publish an Obituary
Cost is one of the most common reasons families reach for a shorter template, so it helps to know the landscape. Newspaper obituaries are typically priced by length, often by the line, with rates that range from roughly $5 to $15 per line in smaller papers and $50 or more per line in major metro outlets. In practice, a standard newspaper obituary runs from under $100 in a small town to between $150 and $500 in most local papers, and can climb past $1,200 in large city or national publications.
On top of the base rate, expect extras: a minimum charge of around $85 to $175 even for brief notices, a photo fee of roughly $50 to $250, and higher pricing for Sunday placement. Because newspapers charge for space, the short-notice template often appears in print while a fuller tribute lives online.
Worth knowing: An online memorial page carries no per-word or per-line cost, so you can publish the detailed template in full, add unlimited photos, and let family keep contributing — something a paid newspaper inch can never do.
Giving the Obituary a Permanent Home
A newspaper obituary appears for a day and is gone. An online tribute lasts, and it can grow. This is where a digital memorial changes what an obituary can be. Instead of a fixed block of text, the obituary becomes the opening page of a living space where relatives add photographs, video, and their own stories over months and years.
With Linkora, that memorial page connects to a QR code you can place on a headstone, plaque, or memorial card, so anyone who visits the grave can scan it and read the obituary and tributes in full. If you are deciding what to feature, our guide on what to put on a memorial web page and the walkthrough on how to create a digital memorial page will get you started in minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should an obituary be?
Newspaper obituaries are usually 100 to 400 words because space is charged by length. Online obituaries and memorial pages have no length limit, so families often publish a short notice in print and a fuller, more personal tribute online. Let the format and your budget guide the length, not pressure to fit everything in.
What information do I absolutely need to include?
At minimum, an obituary needs the person’s full name, age, hometown, and date of death. Most families also add the date and place of birth, a brief life summary, the list of survivors, and the service details. Everything else — stories, hobbies, photos — is meaningful but optional.
In what order do you list survivors?
Survivors are traditionally listed by closeness of relationship: spouse first, then children, grandchildren, parents, and siblings. Those who died before the loved one are usually named separately with the phrase “preceded in death by.” Double-check every spelling, as families read this section most carefully.
Is it cheaper to publish an obituary online?
Usually, yes. Newspapers charge by length and can cost from under $100 to well over $1,200 depending on the publication, plus fees for photos and Sunday placement. An online memorial page typically has no per-word charge, so you can publish a full tribute with unlimited photos and let family keep adding to it over time.
Can I use an obituary template for a memorial page too?
Absolutely. The same template that works for a newspaper works as the opening text of an online memorial. On a digital memorial page you can then expand it with photos, video, and stories from others, turning a fixed obituary into a living tribute that family and friends keep adding to long after the service.
