Short Obituary Example (Under 120 Words, for Newspaper and Funeral Home Notices)

Paid notices are billed by the line. A short obituary keeps the announcement, the immediate family, the service details, and one sentence of who they were. Here are three lengths.

All names, places, and organisations are fictional.

SHORT (about 60 words)
Margaret Ann Holloway, 76, of Cedar Falls, died September 9, 2026. A second-grade teacher for 31 years, she is survived by her children, Susan Ramirez, Michael Holloway, and Laura Holloway, and seven grandchildren. Visitation Friday 4-7 p.m. at Richardson Funeral Home; funeral Mass Saturday 10 a.m. at St. Patrick's Church. Memorials to the Lincoln Elementary library fund.

MEDIUM (about 100 words)
Margaret Ann Holloway, 76, of Cedar Falls, died peacefully at home on September 9, 2026. Born March 3, 1950, in Waterloo, she married Thomas Holloway in 1970 and taught second grade at Lincoln Elementary for 31 years. She was known for her rhubarb pie, her garden, and forty years of Thursday euchre. She is survived by her children, Susan (David) Ramirez, Michael (Karen) Holloway, and Laura Holloway; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and her siblings, Carol, Janet, and Robert. She was preceded in death by her husband, Tom. Visitation Friday, September 12, 4-7 p.m., Richardson Funeral Home. Funeral Mass Saturday, September 13, 10 a.m., St. Patrick's Church. Memorials to the Lincoln Elementary library fund.

ONE LINE (death notice)
HOLLOWAY, Margaret Ann, 76, Cedar Falls, September 9, 2026. Services Saturday 10 a.m., St. Patrick's Church. Richardson Funeral Home.

Notes on this example

• Keep: full name, age, town, date; immediate survivors; service day, time, place; memorial preference.
• Cut first: the middle-life narrative, extended family lists, adjectives.
• Keep one specific detail if you can afford one line. It is the line people remember.
• Post the full version on the funeral home site or a memorial page, and print the short one.

Other examples

• For a mother
• For a father
• For a young adult
• For a veteran