At this point in your life, you’ve probably read through dozens of obituaries. But if you’ve never sat down and actually tried to put one together, you might not realize how difficult it can be to do. It’s not easy trying to sum up a person’s life in a matter of just a few paragraphs. This is why families turn to funeral directors to help create obituaries for their loved ones. Here are some of the essential things that funeral homes will include when they’re compiling an obituary for a person.

Their full name and the dates of their birth and death

This should almost go without saying, but a funeral home will start off a person’s obituary by including their full name and the dates of their birth and death. As far as their name is concerned, they may also include a nickname or a maiden name if either of these things apply. They do this in part to make it easy for people to positively identify someone they know through their obituary.

Some information about their close family members and friends

After mentioning a person’s full name and the dates of their birth and death, a funeral home will move on to listing a person’s close family members and friends in their obituary. It’s obviously not possible to list every family member or friend, but funeral homes will do their best to cram as many names into an obituary as they can. They’ll often include people like parents, spouses, siblings, extended family members, and one or two best friends.

A list of some of their greatest accomplishments

Once a funeral home is done working their way through the basics, they can get down to business. They’ll begin listing some of the things that a person accomplished throughout their life in the middle of their obituary. This can include everything from graduating from college to spending 40 years working for the same company. A funeral home might also choose to include information about the things that a person enjoyed doing during their life, such as spending time with their grandkids or playing with their dogs.

Details about their funeral services

Towards the end of an obituary, a funeral home will start to wrap things up by spelling out the details for a person’s funeral services. They’ll list the dates and times for their viewing and/or funeral or let people know that a family is planning a private service. This helps families avoid an onslaught of phone calls and text messages asking for the details for their loved one’s services.

A note about whether or not a family is accepting flowers at their funeral home

People will often send flowers to a grieving family following the loss of their loved one. But there are some families that ask people to send charitable contributions instead. A funeral home will put this at the very end of an obituary. It’s the best way to finish things off before an obituary is published.

Are you having a hard time creating an obituary for your loved one? Riverdale-on-Hudson Funeral Home, Inc. can lend a hand when you turn to us for help with funeral planning. Reach out to us at (718) 884-6100 today to begin making funeral arrangements or take a trip down to our funeral home to see us at 6110 Riverdale Ave., Bronx, NY 10471.