Free obituary template
Obituary Template for a Father
A free fill-in-the-blank obituary template for a father, including short and long examples, military service wording, and family listing guidance.
Obituaries for fathers tend to drift toward résumé. Job title, years of service, retirement date. That information belongs there, but it is rarely what people remember. What identifies a father in print is usually how he did ordinary things: what he fixed, what he refused to throw away, what he said when someone asked him for help.
Fill in the template plainly, then add one line of that. If you are unsure whether a detail is too small to include, it is probably the right one.
Fill-in-the-blank template
Replace every bracketed prompt with your own details. Delete any line that does not apply. Nothing here is required.
[Full name], [age], of [city, state], died on [date of death] [optional circumstance].
He was born on [birth date] in [birthplace] to [parents' names]. [He graduated from [school] in [year].] [He served in the [branch] from [year] to [year], including [station, conflict, or role].]
[He married [spouse's name] on [date]; they were married [number] years.]
[Father's first name] worked as [occupation] at [employer] for [number] years, where he [one specific thing he was known for doing well]. [Add a concrete detail: what he built, drove, repaired, coached, or kept in the garage.]
He is survived by his [spouse], his children [names and spouses], [number] grandchildren, and his [siblings]. He was preceded in death by [names and relationships].
[Service type] will be held on [date] at [time] at [location]. [Military honors will be provided by [unit or organization].] Memorial contributions may be made to [organization].
What to include
- His full name and any nickname people actually used
- Age, city of residence, and date of death
- Birth date, birthplace, and his parents' names
- Military service: branch, years, and conflict or station, if applicable
- Work, trade, or business, and what he was good at within it
- One concrete habit, saying, or scene
- Surviving family and family who died before him
- Service details and where donations may be sent
Completed examples
Both examples below are fictional. They do not describe real people, and they are written to show length and structure rather than to be copied word for word.
Raymond Keith Alder, 79, of Cedar Falls, died January 22, 2026.
Born April 3, 1946, in Waterloo to Harold and Doris Alder, he served in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1968 and worked as a lineman for Black Hawk Electric for 34 years.
He married Judith Vance in 1971. He is survived by Judith; his sons, Kevin (Tara) and Doug Alder; four grandchildren; and his sister, Lorraine Pike.
Services will be held January 29 at 11 a.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, with military honors. Donations may be made to the Cedar Valley Hospice.
Raymond Keith Alder, 79, of Cedar Falls, died on January 22, 2026, after a short illness.
Ray was born April 3, 1946, in Waterloo, Iowa, to Harold and Doris Alder. He served in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1968 and afterward spent 34 years as a lineman for Black Hawk Electric. He worked in weather that sent everyone else indoors, and he came home from ice storms in a mood that his family learned to wait out with coffee.
He married Judith Vance on August 14, 1971. They were married 54 years.
Ray could fix nearly anything and was constitutionally unable to pay someone else to do it. He kept a coffee can of assorted screws that he genuinely believed was organized. He coached Little League for eleven seasons, mostly badly, and was beloved for it. He called his grandchildren "chief," all of them, apparently to avoid choosing.
He is survived by his wife, Judith; his sons, Kevin (Tara) Alder of Des Moines and Doug Alder of Cedar Falls; four grandchildren; and his sister, Lorraine Pike. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Dale.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on January 29 at Grace Lutheran Church, with military honors provided by the Cedar Falls VFW. Memorial contributions may be made to Cedar Valley Hospice.
Wording for military service and work history
- Standard military phrasing: "He served in the U.S. Navy from 1968 to 1972 aboard the USS Kitty Hawk." Rank at discharge may be included: "He retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Master Sergeant after 22 years."
- If honors will be rendered at the service, say so plainly: "Military honors will be provided by the [post or unit]." Families and veterans' organizations both use this line to coordinate.
- For a long career, one sentence is enough. "He spent 34 years as a lineman" does more than a list of job titles.
- For a career that changed often, group it: "He drove a truck, ran a small engine shop, and finished his working life teaching diesel mechanics at the community college."
- "Retired" is worth stating if it explains how he spent his last decades.
Mistakes worth avoiding
- Inflating rank, decorations, or deployments, which veterans' organizations frequently notice and correct
- Writing the entire notice as a job history with no personal detail
- Omitting a first marriage in a way that erases children from that marriage
- Publishing his full birth date next to his mother's maiden name
When you are ready
Turn the finished wording into a printable program
The template above is free and always will be. If you also need a printed funeral program, memorial keepsake, and thank-you card, TributeReady drafts the wording with you, lets you edit every line, and produces print-ready files for a one-time $34.99. You can write and review the full draft before deciding.
Start a draft for freeQuestions families ask
- Do I have to say how my father died?
- No. Cause of death is entirely optional and many families omit it. If you want to acknowledge a long illness without detail, "died after a long illness" or "died following a lengthy illness" is widely used and understood.
- How do I mention military service correctly?
- Name the branch, the years served, and one identifying detail such as a conflict, ship, unit, or station. If he was honorably discharged at a notable rank, you can include it. Verify dates and rank against his DD-214 if you have access to it, since these details are frequently misremembered.
- Should I include a previous marriage?
- If children, stepchildren, or grandchildren come from that marriage, yes, because leaving it out reads as an erasure of those family members. A neutral construction works well: "He was previously married to Karen Alder, with whom he had two children."
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Editorial note
TributeReady writes and reviews these templates for clarity, accuracy, and practical usefulness. Customs vary by family, faith community, newspaper, and funeral home, so confirm submission deadlines and word limits with whoever will publish the notice. All examples are fictional.