How To Write An Obituary
Tyler Horne
Brief Introduction of Genre,
Obituaries most of the time are thought of as a depressing subject, but they don’t have to be. Obituaries should be an honorable thing by showing respect to the person who has passed away. This is your last chance to highlight some of the things the person did throughout their life in a public manner. With this being said that doesn’t make obituaries easy to write. Obituaries are usually written by a close family member but don’t have to be, it’s possible to hire people to write them for you. Obituaries are written not only to inform the public of the person who had deceased but also to honor those family members so you can reach out or identify who the family was. Obituaries are a rather short summary of the persons life that might include some of his or her accomplishments, family members, sometimes what they died from, this is all left up to the family.
Components of the Obituary:
- The name of the deceased person is usually the beginning of the obituary: showing his or her full name, including first, middle and last names.
- Next component is usually the age of the deceased and dates of the persons birth and the day they died.
- Then most obituaries mention the survivors or family members who were left behind in the next step such as, Parents, Grandparents, sisters, brothers, etc.
- Finally, they include a short summary of the person’s life and at the very end of the obituary the funeral arrangement s are usually the final component, such as when and where the funeral will take place.
WOLBURN, Mary, Seattle, WA, age 55, of __________, went to join her Mom, Dad and brother _________ in the early hours of June _________. Mary leaves a huge number of friends and a huge family to cherish the amazing, lovely life she led: She is survived by her brothers and sisters and their families: _________. Most adored by her nieces and nephews: _______________. We pass along her spirit, when we honor the dignity of every person and delight in the wonder of life. Her rejoicing in the smallest of things will be terribly missed. Please gather with us to celebrate the beautiful Mary. Memorial contributions may be forwarded to the ________________. Service at ____________ Church, 9201 (address), on Saturday, _________, at 11 a.m., where friends may call FROM 10 A.M., UNTIL THE TIME OF THE SERVICE. Reception immediately following at ______________Church, (address). Interment Private. Friends may call at the ___________ FUNERAL HOME, (address), FROM 1 – 4 AND 6 – 9 P.M., FRIDAY.
How to Guide: Steps to writing an Obituary:
1. First and foremost you must start thinking individually of a couple things that you want to mention in the obituary that you hold close to your heart that reminds you of that person. Although, you might not be able to put everything in the obituary you would like, its important to think of as much as you can at preliminary stages so you have several options.
2. Secondly, you and your family must meet and discuss all of the ideas that were written down and talk about what the family thinks are the best couple of ideas to put in the obituary. (Remember it must remain fairly short.) But also keep in mind that the public doesn’t want to read an essay so keep it short.
3. Then once all of the steps above are done, you must then contact your local newspaper and see the prices to list an obituary. Newspapers have different prices for length of the obituary so remember to keep that in mind… How much is the family willing to spend? Just how long the obituary is determines the cost?
4. Once you have contacted the newspaper and you have gone over prices and length, then you must finalize the obituary whether it’s by a certain family member or someone the family has hired to write the obituary. Whichever choice you make remember that your audience might not know who the deceased person is, so make it something that will catch the audience attention while at the same time honoring the person’s life.
5. Finally, you will submit the obituary for publishing.
EXAMPLES:
1. http://elegantmemorials.com/how-to-write-an-obituary/sample-obituaries
2. http://mcusa-archives.org/MennObits/Lazarus/Explanation%20&%20Example/Example.html
3. http://eobituaries.org/obituary-examples/
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