Obituary Template: Free, Fill in the Blanks

An obituary template is a fill-in-the-blanks outline: the facts every obituary carries, in the order readers expect them, with brackets where your details go. Below are three you can copy straight from this page, a filled-in sample so you can see the result, and a free Word version to keep and edit. Nothing here needs an account.

Which template to use

• Short notice: a newspaper charges by the line or the word, so this is the facts and nothing else. Usually 50 to 100 words.
• Standard obituary: 200 to 400 words. The right length for a funeral program, a memorial page and most online posts.
• Survivors paragraph: the part people get stuck on, on its own, so you can drop it into either of the others.

Writing for someone specific? There are fill-in templates written for a mother and a father, with the details families of each tend to want to include.

Short notice template

For a paid newspaper notice, where length costs money.

[Full name], [age], of [city, state], died on [date] [optional: at home / after a long illness / unexpectedly]. [He/She/They] [is/are] survived by [closest survivors, by relationship]. A [service/memorial/graveside service] will be held at [venue], [address], on [day, date], at [time]. [Optional: In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to [organization].]

Standard obituary template

Two hundred to four hundred words. This is the one for the program and the memorial page.

Announcement. [Full name, including nickname in quotation marks and maiden name if used], [age], of [city, state], died on [date] [optional: at [place]].

The life. [He/She/They] was born on [birth date] in [birthplace] to [parents' names]. [Education, military service, or the move that shaped where they ended up.] [He/She/ They] worked as [occupation] at [employer] for [number] years.

Who they were. [Two or three specific things. Not "loved gardening" - the variety she grew, the tool he would not replace, the phrase she said answering the phone. This is the paragraph people remember; give it the most room.]

Survivors. [He/She/They] is survived by [spouse]; [children and their spouses]; [grandchildren]; and [siblings]. [He/She/They] was preceded in death by [names].

Service. A [service type] will be held at [venue], [full street address], [city], on [day, date], at [time]. [Optional: A reception will follow at [location].] [Optional: In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to [organization].]

Survivor paragraph on its own

The order runs closest family outward, oldest to youngest within a generation. Delete any line that does not apply rather than writing "no surviving children".

[He/She/They] is survived by [his/her/their] [wife/husband/partner] of [number] years, [name]; [his/her/their] [son/daughter], [name], and [his/her/their] [wife/husband], [name]; [number] grandchildren; [number] great-grandchildren; and [his/her/their] [brother/sister], [name]. [He/She/They] was preceded in death by [his/her/their] [relationship], [name].

A filled-in sample

Here is the standard template with the blanks filled. The names and places are invented, and the sample is deliberately ordinary, so you can see how little it takes.

Raymond "Ray" Calloway, 81, of Duluth, Minnesota, died on March 4, 2026, at home.

Ray was born on June 12, 1944, in Superior, Wisconsin, to Walter and Ida Calloway. He served two years in the Army, then spent thirty-one years as a machinist at the Clyde Iron Works.

He kept the same thermos for forty years, fixed any neighbor's lawnmower without being asked, and ended every phone call with "Well, I'll let you go," even when he was the one who had called.

He is survived by his wife of fifty-four years, Marian; his daughter, Julie Brandt, and her husband, Tom; his son, Dennis Calloway; four grandchildren; and his brother, Walter Jr. He was preceded in death by his sister, Ruth.

A funeral service will be held at Lakeview Lutheran Church, 410 Harbor Road, Duluth, on Saturday, March 14, at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Duluth Honor Flight.

The third paragraph is the one that makes it Ray's and nobody else's. A template gives the frame; the particulars are the work, and they are worth the time.

Using the template in Word, Google Docs or Canva

Copy it from this page or download the Word file, then replace each bracket in order. Search the finished text for "[" before you send it anywhere; a stray bracket is the commonest error in a template obituary and the easiest to miss.

If you plan to design a printed page in a tool such as Canva, finish the words first, then paste them in. A funeral program is a layout job as much as a writing job; the guide to making a funeral program template compares the options. Or write and lay out both in one place with the free obituary maker, which turns your answers into the obituary and a print-ready program.

Phrases that work, by situation

Cause of death, if you mention it at all

• "died peacefully at home"
• "died after a long illness"
• "died unexpectedly"
• "died following a short illness"

All four are complete. None of them invites a follow-up question, and you are under no obligation to use any of them.

Openings other than "passed away"

• "died on [date]" — plain, and preferred by most newspapers
• "died at home in [city] on [date]"
• "[Name] died on [date], aged [age]"

Closing lines

• "The family is grateful to the staff at [place] for their care."
• "All who knew [him/her/them] are welcome."
• "In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to [organization], where [he/she/they] [volunteered/was treated/spent thirty years]."

Worked examples by relationship and length are in the obituary examples. The reasoning behind each paragraph is in the step-by-step guide, and the order the parts go in is laid out in obituary format.