How to Write Your Mother's Obituary

Writing an obituary for someone as important to you as your Mother can be a difficult task, I have provided some guidelines to help you through this difficult but important task.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. When writing any one’s obituary there should be several things that are included. There are also some other things that you may or may not choose to put in the obituary.
   
   When writing an obituary for your mother you may want to start out something like this:
   
   “Jane Black, beloved mother of Mark Black (Trisha), and Susie White (Ted)”
   
   Note: The names in parenthesis are the spouses of her children.
   
   “Jane Black (72) of Ticktock Illinois passed away at her home on Monday, April 8, 2008. Mrs. Black died of natural causes. She is survived by her loving husband Charlie, daughter Susie White (Ted), and her son Mark Black (Trisha), and three grand children: Martha, Brad and Ted Jr.
   
   You could also head the obituary with Mother or Loving Mother. Then proceed with a paragraph such as the one directly above.
2. What you put in an obituary is optional you can put as little or as much as you want in to it. However there are certain things that definitely should be included:
   
   Date of death
   Last known location, and/or place of origin
   Survived by
   Time, date, and location of any memorials or services
   
   There are other things that are optional but are things that most obituaries contain this would be in addition to what I wrote above:
   
   Date of Birth
   Cause of death
   Succeeded in death by
   
   In addition to the above many people like to share details of their loved ones such as:
   
   Jobs (Employment History – Mostly just longest or last or career path)
   Accomplishments
   Military service
   Place of birth
   Things they loved or cared for
   Causes they believed in
   Personal details (example: loved to travel, wrote many poems to loved ones, loved to watch birds from the kitchen window)
   
   Pride (description of how they were a loving mother, aunt, friend, etc.)
   
   Romantic Story (example: Jane met her husband Charlie when she was 20 years old. They were introduced to one another by friends. They fell in love almost instantly and were married 1 year later. They have enjoyed a loving and happy marriage ever since.)
   
   In Lew of Flowers: Some people may feel that the diseased would rather have money donated to a worthy cause rather than to the purchase of flowers. This may include something that the diseased personally supported or perhaps to a charity that is working to provide a cure for their particular illness.
3. An obituary can be long or it can be short. It can be strictly business or highly personal. You can give as much or as little detail as you would like to provide. An obituary can be a short detailing of ones life story or it can simply serve to provide information about the death and of the services that are being held.
   
   Remember the obituary for most people will be the last printed remembrance of that person’s life. Friends and family will likely cut this from the paper and keep it forever as a remembrance of that person.
   
   Consider how you yourself would like your obituary to read, you would very likely want to have your accomplishments printed in this final detailing of your life. You would also of course want the people you loved most mentioned. It would also be nice if something kind were to be said about you.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have difficulty with the wording simply provide the newspaper person with the details you want included, they will likely be able to form the words in an acceptable manner. This is something they are used to doing.
• Remember to sit and write down all of the details that you want included. Keep your list in front of you as you are giving the details to the newspaper person, or make sure who ever you delegate this task to has the written details in front of them.
• It is very easy to forget things when you are grieving. After you write the original details out, take a short break, then come back and make sure there is nothing you have forgotten that would be important for you to have on there.
• You can print out this article and use it as a check list.
• Show your details list to at least one other person who is close to the diseased and see if they can think of any thing you may have forgotten.
• If you are too emotional to give the details to the newspaper person allow someone else who is more composed to do it. You can sit close by to make sure all details are given.
• If budget is not a concern feel free to write as much as you feel necessary. Just remember that this is an opportunity to provide a final written tribute to your loved one.