Research has found that preparing one’s own obituary can often prove to be therapeutic, not only for the individual, but for the family as well. By drafting the obituary in advance, the family can often begin to come to terms with the pending death and help begin to process the emotions which will ensue.
It can also be a sense of pride for the individual and their family to look back on the accomplishments of a life. Too often, obituaries are drafted by family members hastily in an effort to finalize all the arrangements. Although they have good intentions, the obituaries read as generic recaps of life, blending in with all the others appearing in the newspaper. Many times, the family leaves this task to the funeral director, who may never have known the individual and only had sketchy biographical information to go on.
Everyone’s life story, no matter how seemingly simple, is worth telling. We find that families who initially think there is not much to say are surprised to see how much there is to tell about their loved one if given time to think about it. An obituary need not be overly long or verbose to be meaningful.
We encourage families to submit their own obituaries. If you do not wish to do so, we will submit obituaries to daily newspapers in Wisconsin. The family is responsible for placement and submission of out-of-state obituaries and notices. Nearly every daily newspaper in Wisconsin charges for placement of obituaries and paid death notices.