Your best bet is to read the obituary section of several issues of your
newspaper to get an idea of what items to include and how to word them. Then
just start from scratch. The format is immaterial; the funeral home will
probably insist on retyping it, anyway, and the newspaper certainly will.
If I might make one suggestion, I would recommend that, to the extent you
can afford it, you include as much information as possible, especially
genealogical data. Be sure to include the person's birth date and place and
name his or her parents. This can be of tremendous help to future
genealogists. I treasure the obituaries of some of my ancestors that include
a lot of detail on all the relatives and of course information about the
person's life.
Also, for everyone else out there reading this, if you haven't written your
own obituary, you should do so, for two reasons: it will help you clarify
and focus on what part of your life is important, what you want to be
remembered for; and it will ensure that you are remembered for the things
that are important to you and not just the things that your next of kin can
come up with at a time of great stress. Who will write your obituary if you
don't? Your son? Your daughter? Does he or she know enough about your early
life to include the history of your career? Especially if you have no family
left, will anyone remember anything about you beyond your last few years?
Lest you think this is morbid or bad luck, consider that most newspapers and
magazines write far in advance and continually update obituaries of famous
people so they will be ready when the time comes (see
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/00...103-6881313-0565413?s=books&v=glance&n=283155).
If you're not a celebrity, no one will be doing this for you, but you can do
it for yourself.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
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Cougar1986 said:
I cannot locate an obituary template on the web that I can modify, print and
use for service. If one exists, please contact me, thanks!
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