An obituary is a notice or announcement, especially in a newspaper, of a person's death, often with a short account of their life.
An obituary notice or death notice is a paid listing. These are viewed as advertisements so are handled by the Classified Advertising Department's of the newspaper and require a fee to publish.
A. The information needed for publishing an obituary or a death notice varies depending on the type of notice and the requirements of the newspaper. How much information is needed depends on whether you are going to publish a short obituary notice or a more lengthy (paid) death notice.
Information Needed for an Obituary
The following items are required in all obituaries:
- Name, age, occupation and city of deceased.
- Time and place of death. Some include cause of death.
- Birthdate and birthplace.
- Survivors. Survivors listed depend on the age of the person who had died.
Survivors may include: - Spouse
- Children
- Grandchildren
- Siblings
- Parents
- Other close relatives
- Memberships in local or national organizations
- Military service.
- Funeral, Memorial and Burial arrangements.
Additional Information Needed for a Longer Obituary or Death Notice
Many obituaries or longer paid death notices may also include:
- Education.
- Occupation and work or employment history.
- Outstanding achievements, publications and/or awards
- Offices held in government, professional or community organizations.
- Memberships in fraternal, religious, community or civic organizations.
- Service in armed forces.
- Interesting hobbies or activities.
- Anecdotes and recollections of friends and relatives.
Useful Forms
You may want to download and use the PDF Files created as part of the Funeral Care/Memorial Aid Forms to help organize information needed for the Obituary.
