When losing a dear one, probably the last thing on your mind is choosing a type of memorial. All you want is to let everyone know as hard as possible, because it is hard enough to cope with the loss, you don’t need people annoying you with details that perhaps you don’t want to talk about. However, you should know that there are three types of memorials you can write: death notice, obituary, and tribute. The first two are useful for recording the basic information of names and dates, being fairly straightforward and easy to complete. The tribute usually requires a bit more time and emotion because it includes your personal reflections on the person who died. Below you can read more information about each type of memorial.

Source

The Death Notice

As creepy as it sounds, the purpose of the death notice is to publish basic information about the who, when and where of an individual’s passing. Think of it as a historical record that gives a descendant enough information to know she has tracked down the obituary of an ancestor. This is the simplest type of memorial. You can post a death notice first and then replace it with a full obituary later.

The format of a death notice is pretty simple: one paragraph, which includes date of death, city of residence, name, and age; name of late/surviving spouse and children. If it is a recent death, name of funeral home can be included.

The Obituary

The purpose of an obituary is to summarize the life of someone who has passed away. It starts with the same basic information you include in a death notice, but it goes on to add details about the deceased one’s hometown, jobs, family members, personal interest, and preferred activities. Details like these can stimulate the memories of friends and relatives who can later add their own thoughts to the obituary and tribute.

Traditionally, the style of an obituary is straightforward, because it only records the basic information. However, it is not necessary to wrote in a formal style. You should feel free to add your own adjectives and adverbs, such as “beloved”, “darling”, caring”, “giving” and so on.

The Tribute

The purpose of a tribute is to talk about the life of someone who died by including personal reflections, opinions and emotions about them. To better understand a tribute, imagine that you have been asked to speak at a memorial service. What would you say about the person? That’s exactly what you would want to put in a tribute, as well. If you have already written an obituary, or at least a death notice, feel free to omit the details of dates, numbers and places. Simply devote your writing to your memories of the person.

The content of what you say is completely up to you. Just remember that the tribute will be read by family members, friends, and other people, so you should focus on the best qualities of the person, on what you saw and experienced. You should be as personal in your writing as you were in your relationship with the deceased.

If your imagination does not serve you at the moment, here are some examples on how to write a tribute. You can tell an anecdote or short story about the person, which can be either serious or humorous, but must show the personality and character of the one you are writing about. You can also describe a trait, paint a picture of the person, describe physical characteristics, remember the person’s habits and catch phrases. Whatever comes to mind that describes the loved one, either inside or out.

Source

It’s not easy to keep alive the memory of a loved one who has passed away. We all want to hold on to all that made them special to us, the wonderful things they did, the way they had of saying things, and why, when they died, we had tears in our eyes. And it’s not just for our sakes that we want to remember them, but also for the sake of their family and friends, and perhaps grandchildren not yet born. After all, that’s what memorials are for.

Writing an obituary probably is one of the most difficult things you will have to do after the death of someone you cared about. Even though this can be an extremely hard moment for everyone, it is important to find within you the power to overcome the pain. If you have no idea how to write an obituary, you should not worry at all, as you reached the best place to get properly informed.

An obituary is commonly written as a paragraph that charts the life of the person who deceased, in chronological order. This text should be focused on the accomplishments that the person in cause had throughout his lifetime. It must include also the impact that the person had on the lives of his friends and family, as well as the community in which he lived.

Source

There are different things that should be kept in mind when you write an obituary. The most important ones are listed below.

1. One of the first things you will have to do is to find a newspaper or an online source where you want the announcement to be published.

2. The second step would be checking if there are any length restrictions to the text. These aspects should be known before you start writing the text, as otherwise you will have to rewrite the entire obituary to make it fit to the newspaper.

3. Talk about certain events in that person’s life. Mention hobbies, vocation or simply what that person loved to do in life and what made him happy. Mention the parents, spouse or children of that person.

4. In the obituary you should also announce the location in which the funeral is going to take place.

5. Be certain that you published the obituary with a few days before the memorial service.

Source

In you have no idea how an obituary should look, you should check some examples before publishing it. Even though this can be an extremely hard moment for you, it is something that you most likely have to do, in fact helping you overcome the pain of losing someone dear.

Obituaries are not news. In cases when death occurs naturally, this is called news. But when someone dies by illness or old age, this is called obituaries, which are gathered as the “obituary page” of a newspaper. As the Internet developed a lot, now are also sites on which people can write obituaries. Some websites charge, while others are free.

Source

Usually, obituaries are perceived as being horrible, but it’s not only about reading about dead people. Obituaries inspire and touch hearts as they tell short stories about people’s lives.

Source

Once, a New York Times editor said:”There’s nothing morbid about a good obituary because a good obituary is about life, not death.” Many aslk themselves what’s the difference between a death notice and an obituary. Terms such as death notices, funeral notices and obituaries mean different things for various newspapers, so they are used interchangeably.

Source

But usually, death notices are short announcements that informs about basic things about a loca person’s death such as name, age and memorial service. Obituaries, on the other hand, are longer, providing more details and history related to the person who passed away. Obituaries are written by funeral homes orfamilies, but not by staff reporters. There are also formats specially conceived for writing obituaries, but they are not always followed.

Source

Nonetheless, when important, famosu poeple die, this is news. Actually, their obituaries turn into news stories written by reporters. For example, forms from funeral homes tell about thebasic things only, while interviews with family members, colleagues and friends give more details, are more relevant and can be crafted into a long and interesting story.

Popular, beautiful, young, older or not, death is unpredictible. Even for celebrities. Although they seem special and immortal, they are humans, as well. Their fame and success will stay alive after years, but it’s sad that they’re not able to go ahead with the plans they had.

Source

In 2013 many famous people died also, such as:

• Pete Elliot, American Hall of Fame college footbal player
• Patty Shepard, American-born Spanish movie actress
• Marianne Grunberg-Manago, Russian-born French biochemist
• George Falconer, Scottish footballer
• Claude Prefontaine, Canadian comedian
• Reg Dean, English supercentenarian, Britain’s oldest man
• Jeffrey O’Connell, American legal expert, professor and attorney, champion of No-Fault Insurance
• Frank Page, American radio personality, introduced Elvis Presley to the world
• Robert Gordon Robertson, Canadian civil servant
• Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter
• Lizbeth Webb, English soprano and stage actress
• Thomas McGuigan, New Zealand politician, MP for Lyttelton


Source

All these people had an amazing impact in the fields they were active. Their involvement and work had great results. Nonetheless, some of them were also controversial and criticised, but it’s normal.

There are obituaries about them on the Internet. In 2012 died also many celebrities from various fields, some of them skocking the entire planet. If you want to write an obituary from the above mentioned famous people, you can find special sites that charge no fee.


Source

The obituaries remain online or in the archives, so people can access them and read them for years to come. Smaller, local papers will often publish obituaries for free or for a small fee.


Source

Additionally, the variety of online memorials is impressive and one of them allow you to include photos of the deceased. Online obituaries length varies depending on the website you have chose.

There are many ways that you can find free obituaries online. No matter if you’re looking for an ancestor, friend or just someone you want to find out more about, online newspaper archives and obituary databases are great resources for people research and also for family history.

Source

Read the following tips and you’ll see that it’s easy to find what you’re looking for:

SSDI or The Social Security Death Index. This is an online and free resource, having over 80 million records of virtually all deaths that took place in the US in the past few decades. Even though it doesn’t include free obituaries, it helps you find out an exact date of death and provides a few pieces of information on the place where the death occurred. It can also provide details on a person’s full name, which is very helpful in your following research.

Source

Use Genealogy Databases for Older Records to find someone’s place of death and date. Some good examples of sites are familysearch.org and ancestry.com.
Search free newspaper archives, one of the best starting points being freenewspaperarchives.us. Or, you can do a search at obitsarchive.com, which is a subscription service. The initial search is free. In case you don’t find what you’re looking for, try newspaperarchive.com, a subscription database. A preliminary and free search helps you identify if the obituary you’re looking for is available in this system.

Source

These websites will help you find what you’re looking for, even if you’re searching for curiosity or for any other reason. The Internet is at hand, so you can search anytime you want.

Obituaries are an important source to find out about someone’s achievements or the way it was perceived by people. Whether you’re looking for historical obituaries or for the announcement of a relative of you, the Internet is a wonderful tool.

The main instructions to find what you’re looking for are:

1. Gather as many details about the person or the personality you’re researching. You may find many details, but the most important thing is to find the person’s date and location of death. You can use search engines such as ancestry.com, legacy.com or obituaries.com. On these websites you’ll find listings from many newspapers, but also recent obituaries.

Source

2. Go to your local library and ask for newspaper collections in digital format, microfiche and microfilm.

3. Contact newspapers directly as they may allow you to use their archives that contain old pieces of information than online newspapers.

Source

4. University libraries and historical societies are a great source for your investigation as they may retain older materials.

Source

Nonetheless, online obituaries are the easiest way to access data related to someone’s life. Online archives are great when you’re looking for an obituary of a friend, relative, ancestor, celebrities or anyone else you’re curious to know more about.

Source

Additionally, many of them are at no charge. There are online archives, but you can also use advanced search to find out as many things as possible. Obituaries are also important to different studies as they contain biographical information such as the person’s place of birth, occupation, age, names of his/her family members and the location where he/she died. To discover even more, you can also contact family members of the deceased person if it’s possible. Thus, you may also obtain a free copy of the obituary.

Rich or poor, young or old, famous or not, every single person on Earth will leave this world at one point or another. Celebrities may seem immortal, but in the end, death does not discriminate. Here are the most famous people who died in 2012. They are actors, musicians, sports people, TV personalities and world leaders who we now mourn. However, their legacy will forever remain in our hearts and the hearts of those who knew them.

1. Sarah Burke, freestyle skier and X-Games winner, died from injuries sustained after a crash at the bottom of a superpipe. She died on January 19 and was 29 at the time.

Source

2. Etta James, prolific singer and songwriter, died on January 20 after a long battle with leukemia. She is renowned for bridging the gap between R&B and rock & roll and winning numerous awards, including 6 Grammys. She was 73.

Source

3. James Farentino, an iconic TV actor, died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. following complications due to a broken hip. He was 73 at the time of death (January 24).

Source

4. Whitney Houston, the beloved gospel-trained pop diva, died on February 11, 2012. She was found dead in her hotel room’s bathtub. The reason for her death was initially unknown, but it seems that she had overdosed. She was 48 and had a history of drug and alcohol abuse.

Source

5. Chuck Brown, the “godfather of Go-Go music”, died on May 16 from pneumonia, after being hospitalized a week before passing away. He had been canceling shows throughout the year because of his deteriorating health.

Source

6. Donna Summer, the legendary disco queen, passed away on May 17 after a long battle with cancer. The 5-time Grammy winner is renowned for hits such as Love to Love You Baby, Last Dance, and She Works Hard for the Money.

Source

7. Kathryn Joosten lost an 11-year battle with lung cancer and died on June 2, at the age of 72. She is renowned for appearing on many TV series, including Desperate Housewives and The West Wing.

Source

8. Andy Griffith, one of the most beloved American actors, died at the age of 86 from natural causes. He passed away on July 13. The actor is well know for the series The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock.

Source

9. Neil Armstrong, probably the most famous astronaut in the world, died on September 25 due to complications from blocked coronary arteries. The first man to step foot on the moon was 82.

Source

10. Michael Clarke Duncan, most known for his roles in The Green Mile, Armageddon, and Daredevil, passed away on September 3 in the hospital he had been since a hearth attack in July. He was 54.

Source

Other notable celebrity deaths in 2012 include:

• Andy Williams
• Ron Palillo
• Joey Kovar
• Tony Scott
• Mel Stuart
• Joe Kubert
• Gore Vidal
• Tom Davis
• Sally Ride
• Chad Everett
• Richard D. Zanuck
• Rodney King
• Nora Ephron
• Mary Kennedy
• Maurice Sendak
• Dick Clark
• Junior Seau
• Patricia Medina
• Levon Helm
• Ronnie Montrose
• Jimmy Ellis
• Davy Jones
• Andrew Breitbart
• Leslie Carter
• Johnny Otis

May they all rest in peace!

If you have another child, you need to find strength to get out of bed each morning

The death of a child is a horrible thing. But when this happens to your own, you will feel like the whole world is crashing on you. You need to be able to face it and to acknowledge that this is a tragedy that will mark you forever, but at the same time, you need to regain your strength and to move on with your life for the sake of your family and of your mental health. The usual life cycle implies that a child is born, grows up, get married, has kids, grandchildren and so on. When his life is suddenly interrupted, your hands are tied and even if you don’t want to admit it, you know he will never be back and you will never be able to cradle him in your arms. The death of your child will leave a wound on your soul, so you will need time in order to cope with it.

There are five stages that you will face after this death and you should better know them in order to be fully aware of what you are going through and to have control of your life, in order to be able to stay on the path to recovery.

• Denial and isolation come in the the first place. It’s very hard to accept that your beloved child will never return to you and you will never see him again. It’s understandable that you need some time alone in order to get used to this idea. Take your time and grief. At some point, you will understand that there is nothing you can do anymore, because death is irreversible.
• Anger is the next phase. You will need some time to get through all the questions: why you, why your child, why now? You will feel it’s not fair and you will try to find those who are guilty, but if there are no culprits, you will make amends with his death at some point.
• Bargaining is another stage of the pain that appears after the loss of a child. Unfortunately, you cannot undo what already happened, so after some time you will see there is nothing you can offer or do to have him back with you.
• Depression happens almost in all cases when a parent loses a child. The idea that one has to bury his child is hard to bear, so be prepared to accept the advice of a professional because depression can get very serious.
• Acceptance is the last stage. After overcoming all the mixed feelings you have related to the death of your child, this last phase will set you free and will make you understand that there really is nothing you can do to have him back no matter how you feel or how you act.

If you have other children to tend, the whole process may be a little bit faster than in the cases of those who lost their only child. Don’t keep your emotions for you, share with your family and friends how you feel and find the perfect coping mechanism that can help you get through the immediate period after the death of your child in a more rapid manner. Keep his stuff close to you in order to be able to touch it and talk about him all the time. Even if your child isn’t with you anymore, he will always live in your heart.

Accept the help of those close to you and after you feel that you can do it, try to offer support for others who experience the same drama.

Writing an obituary can be a painful ordeal, especially if you know the deceased. It can also be an important thing to do if announcing a person’s death is relevant to a small community. Writing an obituary may be difficult, but at the same time, it may be therapeutical for the person who writes, since it’s their last goodbye.

When it comes to writing an obituary notice, customs and traditions may vary depending on the religious affiliation, ethnic background or even region. You can find it beneficial to look at an obituary notice in your local newspaper to get a better idea of how an obituary in your area is written. Most of the times, the obituary is written by the funeral home or mortuary, but many people choose to write an obituary themselves.

Source

As a general rule, major national newspapers have their own staff write and publish newsworthy obituaries for free. They charge a hefty fee to publish non-newsworthy obituaries and they are online for a short period of time. Smaller, local papers will often publish obituaries for free or for a small fee. The obituaries remain online or in the archives, so people can access them and read them for years to come.

What are the conditions to publish an obituary?

Source

There are several newspapers that will publish a lengthy obituary for free, but it is best to contact them before you start to write. Be sure you will be able to publish the entire obituary before you write. The average length of an obituary, be it in a newspaper or online, is about 200 words, but it can be as long as 450 words or as few as 50 words.

What exactly to write in an obituary?

Once you have determined who will write the obituary and how long the obituary will be, it is time you start gathering information about the deceased. An obituary must contain the following information:

• full name of the deceased;
• date and place of birth;
• surviving family;
• date, time and address of funeral;
• date, time and address of the memorial service;
• date, time and address of burial service;
• address of cemetery or mausoleum;
• officiating clergy;
• memorial contributions to be made in lieu of flowers to;
• photo.

You might wish to include the following information if you have space and if the details are appropriate, but it is not necessary:

• cause of death;
• education;
• religious affiliations;
• professional memberships;
• participation in local or national organisations;
• military service;
• occupation and employment history;
• accomplishments, achievements, awards, publications, etc.;
• hobbies or activities;
• acts of charity.

Source

Before you sit down and begin to write the obituary, make sure you have all the necessary information on the deceased and contact your local newspaper to find out just how much they charge and if they have a free obituary listing online. If you cannot find your inspiration, you could always go online and read examples of other obituaries. Remember to proofread and double-check the obituary for mistakes.
 

When you are confronted with the loss of a loved one, you have to handle many emotions and sad feelings. In such a situation, writing an obituary can be very difficult, but you still have to collect all your thoughts and feelings.

There are many websites on which you can write obituaries for free. To make things easier for you, there are a few things that cannot and should be written.

Source

The variety of online memorials is impressive and one of them allow you to include photos of the deceased. Online obituaries length varies depending on the website you have chose.

You will also find websites that provide templates. There are some things that you should include such as free obituaries, as well as the details on funeral, memorial service and charities.

For a personal touch, you should also include data about the person’s personal life such as education, hobbies, interests, awards,  community contributions, achievements, military service and employment.

Source

Add a poem, quotations or a verse from the bible to express you feelings and thoughts.

Many people print these obituaries in the local newspapers, but it can also be a national or metropolitan newspaper. Nonetheless, as the Internet is at hand, many people use it instead of newspapers.

Free online obituaries have several advantages compared to newspapers such as:

• no cost

• no limitation of the length of your message

• the possibility to add photos

• no limited geographic reach, so you will be able to reach even relatives and friends that are located in faraway locations

• the possibility to include optional information such as articles published by the person, religious affiliations, officiating clergyman, and memorial contributions, the cause of death, humanitarian activities done by the deceased and many other things

• you can express freely your emotions and thoughts and share them with other people

Source

Now that you know what kind of information can be included, it will be easier for you to gather your thoughts and express your feelings. Apply the above tips and the process of writing an online obituary will be simplified.