Straight story form.

In the lead paragraph, include the deceased's name and the one or two most important points from their life. It should be no more than 35 words long. If it is longer, separate it into two short paragraphs.

The next paragraph should then elaborate on those points, and why they were important to them, their family, friends and the community.

Discuss their life's journey and note the milestones along the way.

The remainder of the obituary will provide traditional information: club participation and memberships, honors, awards, etc.: survivors and those predeceased; visitation and funeral specifics, including burial site and memorial contributions.

View examples at our obituary page

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Poetic form.

Another obituary style uses a few verses of a favorite poem to capture the essence of the deceased. Use Bartlett's Familiar Quotations or talk to a surviving family member about the deceased's favorite poems or poets to find an appropriate selection. The family will help you understand how the excerpt connects to them and to their departed family member. In this example, the character and personality of the deceased come alive in four lines that amplify the selected quotation and personalize its impact on friends and family.

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Dramatic opening

A favorite waitress has served her last delicious story. Professor and award-winning novelist Jane Roe, 93, Leawood, KS, a former Harvey House waitress, died Thursday, May 1, 1997, at Beautiful Savior Nursing Center, Olathe. She graduated from Central High School in Washington, D.C. in 1924 and attended Montgomery College, but married before graduation. She met her husband, Bob Roe, at her summer job as a Harvey girl at the Union Station restaurant. After rearing five children, she resumed her pursuit of a college degree at George Washington University, receiving a bachelor's degree in English in 1956. Over the span of several decades, she continued to attend classes, pursuing a master's and a doctorate degree while teaching at the university and writing novels about her colorful life. She received the Thorpe Menn Award in 1989 for her novel Leaving the Station, which drew from her experiences at the Harvey House.

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Hobby example.

John Roberts fondly remembered the canes his grandfather used – hickory canes carved from the branches of shagbark and shellbark varieties that covered the slopes of his Cass County farm. Long after his grandfather's passing, John began carving the first of what was to become more than a thousand hickory canes that he gave to his friends. John Roberts died Monday, May 19, 1997, but his strength and his support live on among those of us who walk with tangible tokens of his character – his precious canes.

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Religious example

The Shepherd has called home another member of His flock. Eunice Martin, 94, of Atlanta, GA, left this world for everlasting life on Sunday, April 5, 1998.

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Literary devices.

Declarative narrative
Tom Wilson was the best carpenter we knew. He built hundreds of houses that thousands of us have accepted as our homes…

Metaphor
The buck no longer roams the forest that was his realm for 83 years. Elwood “Buck” Jackson has passed on, leaving behind…

Allegory
The old lamplighter of a century ago would walk the village streets at dusk, bringing light to each corner so all residents and strangers would feel safe and be guided by the glow of each beacon. Mike Jones, who retired after a 42-year career as an electrician, brought that same light and comfort to the lives of those who knew him…

Simile
Ralph Gray was like an eagle, majestically soaring above us as he flew his Beach Baron throughout the Midwest.

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