✍️ Writing
Funeral Home Obituary Writer: Paid Newspaper Notice and Longer Online Tribute from a Family Arrangement Sheet
Turn a funeral home arrangement sheet into two finished obituaries: a tight paid newspaper notice priced by line or word, and a warmer online tribute for the funeral home website, with survivors listed in the conventional order, service details, memorial gift wording, and a privacy check that keeps details useful to identity thieves out of print.
0Reviews
Prompt
Act as a funeral home obituary writer who drafts notices with grieving families every week and knows how newspapers price, edit, and print them. You write plainly and kindly, you never guess at a family relationship, and you send a proof the family can approve line by line. Inputs: - Arrangement sheet facts (full name, nickname, age, city, date of death, birthplace, parents): [ArrangementSheet] - Life story notes from the family (work, service, faith, hobbies, sayings): [LifeNotes] - Survivors and those who died before, with relationship and city: [SurvivorList] - Visitation, service, burial, and reception details: [ServiceDetails] - Memorial gift preference and organization: [MemorialGifts] - Newspaper rules: price per line or per word, photo fee, deadline, style limits: [PaperRules] - Word budget for the paid notice: [NoticeBudget] - Output format: [Format] Generate: 1. Fact table. List every fact you will use with its source field, and a QUESTIONS list for anything missing or unclear (spelling of names, step relationships, whether a spouse is living). 2. Paid newspaper notice inside NoticeBudget: name, age, city, date of death, one or two sentences of life, survivors, service details, memorial gifts, and the funeral home line. Use the paper's conventions from PaperRules and show an estimated word or line count so the family can see the cost driver. 3. Online tribute of 250 to 400 words for the funeral home website: an opening that sounds like the person, then work, family, and passions from LifeNotes in the family's own words where possible. 4. Survivors paragraph in conventional order: spouse or partner, children and their spouses, grandchildren and great grandchildren (by number or name as the family chooses), parents, siblings, then others. Then a Preceded in death by sentence. Keep blended family wording exactly as the family gave it. 5. Service and gift block: visitation, service, burial, livestream link placeholder, and In lieu of flowers wording with the organization name as given. 6. Privacy and accuracy check: remove the full birth date, home street address, and mother's maiden name from public versions; flag any phrase about cause of death the family did not approve; list three cuts that would shorten the paid notice if it runs over budget. Constraints: - Never invent survivors, dates, honors, or quotes. Unknowns go to QUESTIONS. - No cliches stacked together (passed peacefully, surrounded by love) unless the family asked for them. - No em dashes.
Instructions
Replace every [bracket] with your details before running. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Generated Output
This image was generated using the prompt above.
Examples
Example Input
ArrangementSheet: Dorothy Ann Kowalski (Dot), 84, of Parma, Ohio; died October 1, 2026; born in Youngstown to Walter and Irene Nowak LifeNotes: 31 years as a school lunch cook at Pleasant Valley Elementary; made pierogi for every church festival; bowled Tuesday league into her 80s; always said 'sit, eat, then talk' SurvivorList: husband of 61 years Edward; daughters Karen (Mike) Brennan and Lisa Kowalski; son Tom (Angela) Kowalski; 6 grandchildren; 2 great grandchildren; sister Marian Dudek. Preceded by brother Joseph Nowak ServiceDetails: visitation Thursday 4 to 7 pm at Lakeside Funeral Home, Parma; Mass Friday 10 am at St. Charles Borromeo; burial Holy Cross Cemetery MemorialGifts: Parma Senior Center meal program PaperRules: per line pricing, about 5 words per line, photo extra, no honorifics like Mrs. NoticeBudget: 110 words Format: numbered sections
Example Output
1. Fact table - Name: Dorothy Ann (Dot) Kowalski (ArrangementSheet) - Age and city: 84, Parma, Ohio (ArrangementSheet) - Death: October 1, 2026 (ArrangementSheet) - Origin: born in Youngstown to Walter and Irene Nowak (ArrangementSheet) - Work: school lunch cook, Pleasant Valley Elementary, 31 years (LifeNotes) QUESTIONS: Should Karen's husband appear as Karen (Mike) Brennan, the paper's usual style for a married couple? Do the grandchildren want names or the number 6? Is a livestream planned for the Mass? 2. Paid newspaper notice (about 104 words, roughly 21 lines at 5 words per line) KOWALSKI, Dorothy Ann "Dot", 84, of Parma, died October 1, 2026. Born in Youngstown, she cooked for the children of Pleasant Valley Elementary for 31 years and made pierogi for every church festival. Beloved wife of 61 years of Edward; mother of Karen (Mike) Brennan, Lisa Kowalski and Tom (Angela) Kowalski; grandmother of 6; great grandmother of 2; sister of Marian Dudek. Preceded in death by brother Joseph Nowak. Visitation Thursday 4 to 7 pm, Lakeside Funeral Home, Parma. Mass Friday 10 am, St. Charles Borromeo. Burial Holy Cross Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, gifts to the Parma Senior Center meal program. 3. Online tribute (excerpt of 310 word draft) "Sit, eat, then talk." Anyone who walked into Dot Kowalski's kitchen heard it before they had their coat off. Dorothy Ann Kowalski, 84, of Parma, died on October 1, 2026. Born in Youngstown to Walter and Irene Nowak, Dot spent 31 years as a lunch cook at Pleasant Valley Elementary, where a generation of children learned that seconds were available if you asked nicely. At St. Charles Borromeo she was the pierogi captain of every festival, and on Tuesday nights she bowled league well into her 80s... 4. Survivors paragraph Dot is survived by Edward, her husband of 61 years; her daughters Karen (Mike) Brennan and Lisa Kowalski; her son Tom (Angela) Kowalski; six grandchildren; two great grandchildren; and her sister Marian Dudek. She was preceded in death by her brother Joseph Nowak. 5. Service and gift block Visitation: Thursday, 4 to 7 pm, Lakeside Funeral Home, Parma Mass of Christian Burial: Friday, 10 am, St. Charles Borromeo Church Burial: Holy Cross Cemetery Livestream: [LINK IF CONFIRMED] In lieu of flowers, the family asks that gifts be made to the Parma Senior Center meal program. 6. Privacy and accuracy check - Removed: full birth date and street address (not in either version). - Parents' names are kept in the online tribute only; ask the family whether they want them in print, since a mother's maiden name is a common security question. - No cause of death mentioned. Keep it that way unless the family asks. - If over budget, cut in this order: the pierogi clause (9 words), Born in Youngstown (3 words), the funeral home city (1 word).