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Funny Obituaries

Aug 22, 2024

Writing an obituary is a challenge. These tributes serve multiple purposes. They announce someone’s passing and can also direct mourners on where and when to attend the funeral. But they can also put together a puzzle of who the person who passed was.

When you write an obituary, you want the tone to reflect the person it’s about. And although many are hesitant to write funny obituaries, for some people, it’s only fitting to make readers laugh, just as they would have done in life. These tips can help you write a funny obituary for your loved one.

4 Tips for Writing a Funny Obituary

1. Be honest.

The best funny obituaries tend to read like a “Dean Martin Celebrity Roast.” And while that format doesn’t work for everyone, it works well for the people who could dish it out as well as they could take it. If your mother was known for random, perhaps too honest remarks, write that she’ll be missed at family gatherings, as there will be no one to make everyone blush anymore. Or if your dad could be found every Sunday glued to the couch, cheering on his favorite football team, write that you’ll never be able to sit through a 49ers game without thinking of the deafening sound of him screaming at a head coach as if the coach could hear him.

There’s a certain beauty in an honest obituary because it paints a complete person. Some obituaries just talk about the most positive things about the individual, but people are complex and filled with shades of gray. So, share the things that made them who they were, even if it’s not always pretty. The people who knew your loved one will appreciate and giggle at remembering all the ways that person impacted their lives, from how they always showed up to parties 15 minutes too early to how they had a habit of fabricating stories in the most grandiose way.

2. Turn it into a narrative.

Many of the best obituaries tell a story. One way to write a funny obituary is to recount a tale that truly shows who your loved one was. Maybe it was a road trip gone horribly wrong, but your loved one kept you laughing the whole time, so you didn’t care that you never reached your destination. Or maybe your loved one showed up to your high school graduation with so many noisemakers, air horns, and other contraband that they got escorted out after they cheered your name far too loud.

Telling a story allows the story to be funny without poking fun at your loved one. In this way, the obituary moves away from being a “Celebrity Roast” and more toward a simple conversation retelling your loved one’s greatest moments. It’s a good idea to tell a story that’s personal to you, the writer. That way, you can dig into the details and paint a vivid picture. But you can also speak with family and friends to see if they have a story that you all feel exemplifies who your loved one was. Ask multiple people who were there to recount it, and try to be as detailed as possible in your retelling. There’s much comedy to be found in the details.

3. Know your audience and publication.

Even if you’re aiming for a funny obituary, certain elements should be there, even though those aspects aren’t humorous. Being funny doesn’t mean being dishonest or inaccurate. You’ll need to make sure that you have the facts straight on your loved one’s biography, including:

● The date and location of their death

● Their age (even if your loved one liked to lie about this)

● Surviving family

● Where and when the funeral will be held

If you’re publishing the obituary in a newspaper or other publication, you may have to follow additional guidelines. They might not allow the kind of funny obituary you’re aiming for. Instead, you may have to write one with a more somber tone for those kinds of publications. But you can still share your funny obituary on social media or a funeral home’s website.

4. Don’t limit the emotion.

It’s a mistake to believe that people can’t laugh and cry at the same time. The best obituaries make you do both. Even while aiming to write a funny obituary, you can still add in more profound, more emotional reflections on your loved one’s life. Talk about their legacy, how what they did affected you and the others around them, and how they made you feel.

Share the lessons that they imparted upon the world, both the silly ones and the more serious ones. People are filled with many different sides. Though your loved one may have embraced the humor of the world, they likely impacted people in many different ways beyond making them laugh.

A funny obituary may not work for everyone. And even certain types of funny obituaries, like ones that read more like a roast, may not be a great fit for all of your loved ones. But for some people, a funny obituary is truly the best way to immortalize what made them who they were. By retelling stories, poking fun at the little details that made up the big picture of your loved one, and sharing the lessons they taught the world, you’ll create something both funny and meaningful.

www.bisslerandsons.com

Bissler & Sons Funeral Home and Crematory has served families in Kent, Ohio, and all of Portage County since 1913. The company transitioned ownership in 2018 when Rick Bissler retired and arranged to merge his family’s funeral home with the Billow family’s funeral homes, who carry on the tradition of high quality funeral, burial, memorial and cremation services. Their privately owned and operated crematory ensures that loved ones never leave their professional care. Visit bisslerandsons.com to learn more.

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How Can We Honor Our Family Member Who Died and Keep the Holiday Celebratory?

30 Oct, 2024

There are those people in our lives who we connect with on certain holidays. When we think of Christmas, Hanukkah, or the 4th of July, this person comes to mind. It might be the cookies they baked, the blessing they said, or the fireworks show they were known for. Regardless of what they did, it is difficult to imagine the holiday without this person. Celebrating the holiday, especially for the first time, following their death can be hard. The goal is not to lose the celebratory nature of the holiday in the void created by the death of the person we loved. It is to incorporate the memory into the celebration of the holiday.

What Should Be Included in a Funeral Program?

26 Oct, 2024

There are so many aspects of putting together a funeral that it’s easy to overlook some things. But every element of funeral planning is vital for different reasons. One often-overlooked component is the funeral program.What exactly is a funeral program?And what do you find in one? What is a funeral program? Funeral programs serve the essential purposes of giving attendees information about the service and of being a tangible memento that honors the life of the decedent. These programs may be the size of one sheet of paper, a card, or a larger booklet. Most often, they are provided to funeral attendees either when they enter the room where the service will be held or placed on the seats before the guests arrive. What goes in a funeral program? Funeral programs can be as unique as the service itself, but there is a general order to what goes into these pages. Here’s what you may find in a funeral program: 1. A cover honoring the decedent The cover of a funeral program often consists of the name of the person whose life is being honored, a photo of them, and the years of their birth and death. Making a cover this way makes it clear whose service guests are attending. However, a cover may also consist of other elements that show more of the decedent’s personality. For instance, a funeral program’s cover may also have one of the decedent’s most beloved quotes, poems, prayers, or song lyrics. Just as an obituary doesn’t have to have a somber tone if the decedent was known for their humorous personality, it’s fitting to make the funeral program show off that personality. The cover is a good place to set that tone. 2. The obituary Within the pages of a funeral program, it’s customary to find the decedent’s obituary. Although you may have previously shared the obituary on your funeral home’s website, a website dedicated to obituaries, social media, local newspaper, or other locations, writing it in the funeral program helps to immortalize that spirit of your loved one. 3. Service information Because a funeral program is a memento of the service, it should include the service information. You’ll want to write the date, time, and location of where the funeral is being held. 4. Order of service As the name suggests, the order of service is the order in which the events of the service will be held. Some events may include the introduction, prayers, readings, musical performances, eulogies, additional speeches, and closing remarks. If you’re having a religious service, you may want to talk to a religious leader to ensure that your order of service fits the traditional funeral ceremony performed by that religion. For example, traditional Catholic funerals do not include a eulogy. Whether you’re holding a religious ceremony or not, you should also talk to your funeral director to make certain that you know the proper order of the service before writing the program. Alongside each element of the order of service, you should also write who is leading that portion of the service. 5. Where to find prayers, hymns, and scripture readings If you’re holding a religious service, you should include in the funeral program where to find prayers, hymns, and scripture readings. Doing so allows the guests to read and sing along when the time arrives. Especially if you’re expecting a large service, it may be hard for some guests to hear the officiant. By providing directions to where to find the readings, no guest will have to worry about missing important information. 6. Song or hymn lyrics Similarly to why you would provide where to find readings, you may want to write the lyrics to songs or hymns that you may wish the funeral-goers to sing along to. If anyone is unfamiliar with these songs or hymns, they will be grateful you provided the lyrics. Even if guests don’t sing along, these songs were chosen to be a part of the funeral for a reason. It’s meaningful for guests to be able to study those lyrics, which were important to the decedent or hold great significance. 7. Pallbearers and flower bearers While the names of the eulogists, singers, and other speakers will be included in the order of service, you may also want to share the names of the pallbearers and flower bearers in the funeral program. If you do choose to write them, you should remember to also include anyone who is an honorary pallbearer or flower bearer. 8. Additional service information If there’s a committal service or reception after the funeral, you should also share directions and information about these services. You should write when and where they will be held, as well as any additional pertinent information.