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An obituary (sometimes referred to informally as an "obit") is a notice of a recent death, usually published in a newspaper. In addition to the standard facts (date of birth, date and cause of death), an obituary contains biographical information, including the names of relatives (both living and deceased), work history,... more »
An obituary is usually written in paragraph form and charts the life of the deceased in chronological order. It should focus on accomplishments of the deceased person and the impact that person had on his or her family, friends and community. more »
As the old saying goes, "Nothing is certain but death and taxes." Yet, one thing that is not always is certain is whether an individual is in fact dead. We often wonder about celebrities or old friends or colleagues. Are they still alive? The Internet affords many opportunities for finding out about the deceased. In some cases, we can... more »
An obituary is a public notice of a recent death, typically published in the newspaper in the town where the subject lived or had some connection. More personalized and detailed than the standard "Notice of Death," a well-written obituary is a mini-biography, highlighting the deceased's family, work and educational history, as well as... more »
Obituary notices provide information on the death of a person and inform newspaper readers about funeral arrangements. Writing an obituary notice is an often difficult and emotional task, particularly as it is usually a task given to a close family member or friend of the deceased. If you have been asked to write an obituary, you may... more »
In an already difficult time, obituaries can be very stressful to write. Strict newspaper...
A funeral is a ceremony commemorating a person's passing away. These rites are nearly as old...
Obituaries represent different things to different people. Sometimes they are used as a genealogical reference. Sometimes they are used as a means... more »
Even though the idea of finding an obituary from another state sounds difficult, it can be a very easy process if you just follow the steps below.... more »
If you want to build a genealogy, you can start by searching through the obituaries of your ancestors. Official birth and death records can also... more »
An obituary announces the death of someone and honors her life. Often obituaries are written by staff of a funeral home, but a loved one can make... more »
An obituary announces a person's death and gives a brief description of his or her life. Obituaries also list when and where a funeral or service... more »
An obituary is primarily an attempt by a publication to give an account of the life of someone considered significant who has recently died. It is to be distinguished from a death notice (also known as a funeral notice), which is a paid advertisement written by family members and placed in a newspaper either by the family or the funeral home.
Many news organisations have pre-written obituaries on file for notable individuals who are still living, allowing detailed, authoritative and lengthy obituaries to appear very quickly after their death.
History
The first obituary is very difficult to trace, however many candidates are found at the advent and popularization of the printing press circa 1500s. The first obituaries were concise, simply containing the deceased name, birth date, death date, and cause of death.
During the late 1800s John Thadeus Delane, an English editor of the London newspaper The Times, saw the potential for obituaries and began publishing them. This entailed newspapers recognizing a persons death as a solemn and important event that needed more than just a short announcement. As a result, obituaries grew in length and elaboration, containing short prayers, poems, and brief biographies.
At the onset of the 1900s modern advances in printing technology allowed obituaries to contain images; this allowed obituaries to become more elegant, but more solemn as well. As the late 1990s and early 2000s saw the internet become more popular and ubiquitous, obituaries became digitized and available as a search result in addition to newspapers.
Premature obituaries
By definition, obituaries should always be posthumous. But occasionally obituaries are published, either accidentally or intentionally, while the person concerned is still alive. Most are due to hoaxes, confusions between people with similar names, or the unexpected survival of someone who was close to death. Some others are published because of miscomm read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obituary
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