How to write an obituary, gently
An obituary does three jobs. It tells the community that someone has died and when the services are; it records the outline of a life — names, dates, places — for relatives and future generations; and it says, in a few honest sentences, who this person was to the people who loved them. If your draft does those three things, it is a good obituary. Everything else is polish.
Most families write it in a day or two, between a hundred other arrangements, which is exactly why templates help: they carry the structure so you only have to carry the memories. Start with the facts, borrow the frame, and spend your limited energy on the one or two lines only your family could write. If you would like the full walkthrough, our guide to how to write an obituary takes it step by step.
What to include in an obituary
- Their full name — with maiden name and any nickname they actually went by. Old friends search by both.
- Age, home city, and date of passing. The cause of death is optional and entirely the family’s choice.
- A short life story — birthplace, work, faith, passions, and one specific detail that sounds like them.
- Family — who survives them (spouse, children with spouses in parentheses, grandchildren named or counted) and who went before them.
- Service details — type, date, time, and place, or “services will be private” if that is the family’s wish.
- Memorial wishes — “in lieu of flowers” donations, and a thank-you to caregivers if you wish.
For the conventional ordering of these pieces — the pattern editors and funeral homes expect — see our note on standard obituary format.
Template, or guided writer?
Both get you to the same place. The fill-in-the-blank templates suit families who want full control of every sentence: copy one, replace the brackets, done. The guided writer above suits the moments when a blank page feels impossible — it asks small, concrete questions (their name, what they loved, who survives them) and assembles the prose for you, with correct grammar even when you skip fields. You can switch tone with one click: traditional for the newspaper and funeral home, celebration of life for warmer gatherings, or brief when every line has a price.
Mind the newspaper’s meter
Print obituaries are usually billed by the line, and a line in a standard newspaper column runs only about thirty characters — so a 300-word obituary can cost surprisingly more than a 150-word one. That is why the writer shows a running word, character, and estimated line count under your draft. A common approach: publish the short version in print, and share the full version at the service and online, where length costs nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Is this obituary template really free?
Yes — completely. The guided writer, every template on this site, and the downloads (.txt and .docx) are free, with no signup, no watermark, and no payment step. We built it for families who have enough to deal with already.
Is what I type private?
Yes. The obituary is composed entirely in your browser using template logic that runs on your own device. Nothing you type about your loved one is uploaded, stored, or seen by us.
What should an obituary include?
At minimum: the person's full name (including maiden name or nickname), age, city, and date of passing; the names of close surviving family; and service details if they are set. Most families also add a short life story — work, faith, passions, and one or two personal details that capture who they were.
How long should an obituary be?
A typical obituary runs 100 to 300 words. Newspaper obituaries are often kept short because papers charge by the line — roughly 30 characters per line in a standard column. Online obituaries (on funeral home websites or memorial pages) have no length limit, so many families publish a short version in print and a longer one online.
How much does a newspaper obituary cost?
It varies widely by paper — commonly anywhere from about $50 to several hundred dollars, billed by the line or column inch, with photos costing extra. Our writer shows a word, character, and estimated line count so you can trim before you submit. Publishing on a funeral home's website is usually included in their services.
Does this use AI to write the obituary?
No. The writer composes your obituary from your own answers using carefully written sentence templates and grammar logic — running entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to an AI service, which is also why it is instant, free, and private.
Can I edit the obituary after it is composed?
Yes — the composed text appears in an editable box, and we encourage editing. Change any word, add memories, or switch between the three tones (traditional, celebration of life, and brief) until it sounds like them.