Guideline for writing an obituary

• Date and Place Of Birth
• Name Of Parents
• Nickname
• Siblings
• Education
• Marriage(s), Names Of Children
• Occupation (Name Of Companies Deceased Worked For)
• Military Service (Branch Of Service, Rank& Years Served)
• Religious or Spiritual Identity
• Religious or Spiritual Identity
• Club Affiliations (Fraternal, Political, Social, Etc)
• Organizations or Volunteer Work
• Favorite family activities and/or hobbies (Fishing, Bowling, cooking, Traveling etc)
• Survivors

Sample

John Doe was born in Columbia, South Carolina to the proud parents of Jim and Mary Doe on June 17, 1913. He was the third of five children.

John attended elementary school in South Carolina. The family moved to New York in 1928, settling in the boro of Manhattan. He attended George Washington High School in 1932. After graduation he entered Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, majoring in Architecture and later obtained his masters degree from Cornell University.
While at Cornell, he met Harriet Brown. They were married June of 1940. Three children came from this union: Joseph, Jane and Jonathan.

John was fortunate to obtain employment shortly after completing requirements for certification in New York at the prestigious Dimery Architectural Design Corporation. As an associate apprentice working his way up to Senior Architect, John retired after 30 years of service.

John was a long and faithful member of Union Baptist Church for 30 years where he taught Sunday school for the last 10 years. He also served as a deacon in the church. “JD”, a nickname given by his bowling buddies, won several trophies in various tournaments. Despite his busy schedule, he still found time to volunteer his services in a mentoring program sponsored by the YMCA. He also tutored junior high school aged children in math twice a week.

“JD” touched many lives. Everyone will miss him. He leaves to mourn his passing: his loving wife, Harriet; three children, (Names); seven grand children; two brothers; one uncle and a host of other relatives and friends.