Obituaries, a gentle library.
A short, public summary of a long, private life. We will help you write it.
An obituary is the official notice of a death. It announces. It invites. It records the basic shape of a life so that the people who knew the person can find their way to the service. In the past, the local paper was the only place this lived. Today it also lives on the funeral home's website, on social media, and sometimes only on Stillwith.
The pages below cover the mechanics. How long it should be. What the newspaper expects. Whether you need to include the cause of death. How to ask, gently, that donations go to a meaningful cause instead of flowers. How to set up the donation page itself.
If you have never written one and the deadline is tomorrow, the place to start is how to write an obituary. If you are placing it in a paper that charges by the inch, read obituary newspaper format first.
One small note. The obituary and the eulogy are not the same. The obituary is short, public, and printed. The eulogy is longer, spoken aloud, and held by a room. We have a separate library for eulogies.
When you are ready, Stillwith can help you draft an obituary in about ten minutes. The first draft is free, and we will format it to the length your local paper expects.
All obituary guides
- How to write an obituaryWhat to include, how long it should be, and how to honor a life in a few short paragraphs.
- Obituary newspaper formatHow newspapers structure an obituary, what they charge per line, and how to fit a life into a column inch without losing it.
- In lieu of flowers wordingGentle phrasing for asking that donations go to a meaningful cause instead.
- Memorial donation pageHow to set up a donation page in memory of someone, what to write on it, and how to share the link in the obituary.
- Writing your own obituaryWhy people write their own obituary, what belongs in it, and a fill-in template you can finish in an hour. For when you want the last word to be yours.