Use good judgment, especially if the death was gruesome, involved illegal activity or was a suicide. –How they died–Most people don’t include this information, but it’s up to you. –Activities–Include churches, clubs, organizations, volunteer groups, hobbies and other things that were important to your loved one. –Other family members (nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, etc.) and special friends– Again, this can make your obituary quite long (and can get political if you include some names, but not others), so you may want to leave these people out unless you have a small family or are prepared to pay for a costly obituary.

–Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s names and residences–If this list gets two long, you can eliminate the names and locations (ex: “five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren”). –Parents’ names and residences–Some people only include these if they’re still alive, but others give tribute to a deceased parent (ex: “daughter of the late John Smith”). –City and state of other residences–You may want to include this if: most of the person’s life was spent living in a different place from where they died, they lived in a town or city that was important to them or if they were well known or did something notable in a previous town. If you plan on repeating the obituary, you can include the details in a future issue. –Time, date and place of viewing, burial, wake and memorial service arrangements–If you don’t have this information yet, you can always write something like, “funeral arrangements are being made by ABC Funeral Home and will be announced at a later date.” That way those who are interested can contact the funeral home for more information. –Name of significant other (alive or deceased)

–City and state of residence where they were living when they passed away

Mary sample obituary