This is a fill-in obituary template written for a father. The general obituary template works for anyone; this one asks for the things families of a father tend to want in the text: service and the work he did, what he built or fixed or taught, the names he answered to (Dad, Pop, Papa, Grandpa), and the sentence he said so often that his children can say it in his voice.
The template
Replace every [bracket]. Delete any sentence that does not apply.
[Full name], [age], of [city, state], [known to family and friends as "[nickname]"], died on [date] [optional: at home / at place / surrounded by his family].
He was born on [birth date] in [birthplace] to [parents' names]. [He graduated from [school] in [year].] [He served in the [branch] from [year] to [year] / [rank, if you want to include it].] He married [spouse's name] on [date] [optional: and they shared [number] years together].
He worked as [occupation] at [employer] for [number] years, [retiring in [year]]. [Anything he built, coached, repaired, or taught: a trade, a team, a church committee, a garage full of other people's cars.]
[Two or three specific things: the tool he would not replace, the chair that was his, the thing he said on the phone, the joke he told at every holiday.]
He is survived by [his wife / his partner]; [his children and their spouses]; [his grandchildren, by name or by number]; [his great-grandchildren]; and [his siblings]. He was preceded in death by [names].
A [service type] will be held at [venue], [address], on [day, date], at [time]. [Military honors will be conducted by [unit].] [In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to [organization].]
The parts that are different for a father
Military service
If he served, say the branch and the years; rank and decorations are the family's choice. If there will be military honors at the service, name the unit that is providing them, so people know what to expect. What military honors are and how they are requested is covered in its own guide.
The work he did
Give the employer and the years, and then give the thing the job title does not carry. "He drove a delivery route for thirty-one years and knew every customer's dog" says more than the job title does. If he ran a business or worked with his hands, a sentence on what he made is worth more than a list of dates.
What he said and what he did
Fathers are often remembered for a habit or a sentence: how he carved the roast, how he answered "How are you?", the stretch of road he drove to every game. Choose one or two and put them in the third paragraph, where a template can only hold a bracket.
Survivors
Order the list closest outward: spouse or partner, children and their spouses, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, then siblings. Include stepchildren the same way as children. If his children come from more than one marriage, list them together, in age order, without comment.
A filled-in sample
The names and places below are invented.
Gerald "Jerry" Pruitt, 78, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, died on May 21, 2026, at home.
Jerry was born on August 8, 1947, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, to Earl and Faye Pruitt. He served in the Navy from 1966 to 1970, and married Patricia Hale in 1972.
He drove a bread delivery route for thirty-one years, retiring in 2010, and coached his son's Little League team through four losing seasons and one championship.
He fixed what other people threw away, kept every receipt in a coffee can, and told the same joke about the preacher and the parrot at every Thanksgiving.
He is survived by his wife of fifty-three years, Patricia; his son, Michael Pruitt, and his wife, Angela; his daughter, Lisa Cobb; five grandchildren; and his brother, Frank. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Doris.
A funeral service will be held at Grace Baptist Church, 1800 South Peoria, Tulsa, on Wednesday, May 27, at 2:00 p.m. Military honors will be conducted at the graveside. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Tulsa Veterans Center.
Before it goes anywhere, read it aloud to one other family member and ask who is missing. Leaving out a stepchild, a long-term partner or a close friend "who was like a son" is the mistake that hurts longest, and it is almost always an oversight.
For worked examples at different lengths, see obituary examples for a father. To plan the printed page, see obituary format and the order of service template. You can also download a general obituary template in Word.
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