Home › Obituary templates › Short newspaper obituary template

Short newspaper obituary template

Many newspapers charge by the line or the word, so a short notice can be a practical choice. This template keeps to the essentials: who, when, a line about their life, who is left, and the service. The word count updates as you type, so you can check it against what the paper allows.

Take your time. What you type and the photos you add stay on your device. We never receive them. You can close the page whenever you need to.

An example made-up people and details

Eleanor Grace Pritchard, 92, of Brookfield, died on May 5, 2026, peacefully.

Born in Leeds, England, to Doris and Arthur Greaves. She worked as a seamstress and a church organist.

She is survived by her daughter, Susan; her son, Peter; and six grandchildren.

A service will be held at St. Mark's Church on Thursday, May 14, at 10 a.m.

Donations may be made to St. Mark's Music Fund.

Write yours

This tool did not finish loading, so the form will not respond. Please reload the page.

Which pronouns should the text use?

Fill in what you can. Anything you leave blank is simply left out of the text.

About them
As you would like it to appear
A number, or leave blank
For example: Maple Grove
For example: March 3, 2026
For example: peacefully at home, surrounded by family
For example: Dayton, Ohio
For example: Anna and Paul Reyes
Their life
For example: a school bus driver
For example: her husband Tom, daughters Ana and Beth, and four grandchildren
The service
For example: Saturday, March 14, at 11 a.m.
For example: Maple Grove Community Church
For example: the Riverside Library Fund
See your text

Your text

Highlighted [brackets] mark a needed detail that is still blank.

The plain template

The same template with every blank showing. Copy it into any document and replace each [bracketed] part.

[full name], [age], of [hometown or where they lived], died on [date of death], [how or where they passed].

Born in [place of birth], to [parents' names]. They worked as [work or career].

They are survived by [survived by].

A service will be held at [service place] on [service date and time].

Donations may be made to [donations or flowers].

How to write an obituary, step by step · Make a funeral program · All obituary templates