Obituary template
An obituary writer that turns the name, dates, places, family, work and the service details into paragraphs you can edit and send to the newspaper or funeral home.
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Fill in what you need. The preview updates as you type.
What you type is not saved on our server.
A draft to edit, not a final copy
The paragraphs follow the order most US newspapers and funeral homes use, but a life does not fit a form. Download the DOCX and change anything that sounds stiff, add a sentence only a family member could write, and have someone else check every name and date. Newspapers usually need the text 24 to 48 hours before publication.
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Obituary
Jordan Michael "Jay" Lee
March 4, 1948 to October 2, 2026
Jordan Michael "Jay" Lee, 78, of Austin, Texas, passed away on October 2, 2026.
Jordan was born on March 4, 1948, in Dayton, Ohio, to Mary and Robert Lee. Jordan graduated from Ohio State University in 1970 with a degree in civil engineering. He spent 38 years with the Texas Department of Transportation, where he helped design bridges across central Texas, and retired in 2010 as a district engineer.
Jordan married Taylor Kim in 1972. Jordan is survived by spouse of 54 years, Taylor Kim; children Sam Lee (Casey) of Austin and Riley Lee of Denver; grandchildren Ava, Noah and Mia; and sister Morgan Park of Columbus, Ohio. Jordan was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, David.
He coached Little League in Northwest Austin for a decade, kept a vegetable garden that fed half the street and never missed a Longhorns home game. Friends remember his patience, his terrible puns and an open door for anyone who needed a meal or a place to talk.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at Oak Hill Chapel, 400 W Lamar Blvd, Austin, with visitation from 1:00 pm. Interment will follow at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery. Arrangements are by Hillside Funeral Home, Austin.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Austin Parks Foundation.
How to use it
Type the facts: name, dates, home city, where they were born, the family under labels, a few sentences about school and work, a few about what they loved, the service details and a charity if the family prefers donations to flowers. The page writes the obituary in the order readers expect: the announcement, the life, the family, the interests, the service, the donations. Pick whether later sentences use the first name or the full name.
The preview counts the words and warns above 400, because most newspapers charge by length. Download the DOCX, edit the wording, and send the short version to the paper and the longer one to the funeral home for its website and the funeral program template.
Things to watch
Identity thieves read obituaries. Leave out the home street address, the mother's maiden name and the exact birth date if the paper does not require it; the year is enough. List survivors by relationship and first name rather than full addresses, and double-check the spelling of every grandchild with the family before it goes to print.
Calculators that go with this
Frequently asked questions
How long should an obituary be?
For a newspaper, 150 to 300 words; the first paragraph and the service details are what most readers need. Online and funeral home pages have no limit, so many families write a short paid notice and a longer version for the website.
How do I write the family lines?
One line per label with a colon: Spouse: Taylor Kim, married 1972 becomes a marriage sentence and the survived-by entry with the years married. Children: Sam Lee (Casey) and Riley Lee puts spouses in parentheses, which is the usual newspaper style. Siblings and any other label go at the end of the survived-by sentence.
What if we do not want to say how they died?
You do not have to. The first sentence says passed away with the date and nothing more. If you want to add a cause, edit that sentence in the DOCX.
Is what I type saved anywhere?
No. Everything stays in your browser and nothing is sent to our server. If you refresh the page it is gone, so print, save a PDF or download the DOCX when you are done.