Writing an obituary – examples and templates

• Announcement – full name (including maiden name), age, place and date of death
• Short biography – birthplace, career or vocation, family, one or two defining traits
• Family – parents (if predeceased), spouse or partner, children, grandchildren
• Funeral details – date, time, place, dress code, streaming link if any
• Closing – flowers or donations, thanks, a line of memory

Write as you would speak to a caring neighbour. Avoid clichés ("lost their battle") and instead choose one honest image: the garden they tended, the songs they played on Sundays, the way they laughed too loudly at bad jokes. Read the draft aloud – if it sounds like a form, it needs another edit. A single sentence of humour is welcome if the deceased loved to laugh.

Anna Marie Fischer, 1948–2026, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her family. Anna was born in Bern, trained as a nurse and worked for thirty-two years at the University Hospital. She is survived by her husband Peter, her children Klara and Thomas, and four grandchildren. A funeral service will be held on 12 May at 14:00 at the Bremgartenfriedhof chapel. In lieu of flowers, the family invites donations to the Swiss Cancer League.

Our beloved father, Giovanni Rossi, died at home on Sunday morning, holding our mother's hand, as he had always promised he would. He was 78. Giovanni was born in the mountains above Lugano, opened his first bakery at 24, and spent the next fifty years feeding a small town at 5 a.m. every day. He loved football, red wine, his grandchildren and, in that order, kept telling everyone so. Rosaries will be prayed on Tuesday at 19:00; the funeral Mass follows on Wednesday at 10:00 in the parish church of San Rocco.

Do not publish the deceased's full date of birth, home address or bank details – all three can be exploited by identity thieves and burglars during the funeral. If children are named, ask their parents first. Newspapers usually charge per line or per column-centimetre; websites and social media are free. The Wegbegleiter app (wegbegleiterapp.com) offers three template obituaries (traditional, personal, secular) and a preview so you can see how the text will fit before you commit.

Prepare a short paragraph for the phone: cause of death (only what you want to share), funeral details, donations vs flowers, and how to reach the family. Pin the obituary link to the top of the deceased's social profiles or use the memorial contact feature on Facebook. Reusable templates and a shareable memorial page are available in the Wegbegleiter app (wegbegleiterapp.com). Find them at wegbegleiterapp.com.