Obituary is a notice of death. It usually includes a BRIEF biological
sketch of a person. Look at this example:
MARY COLLINS
Mary "Jane" McCormack Collins, 84, of Wilmington, passed away April
4, 2008.
Jane was born in Orange, NJ, September 18, 1923, the daughter of the late
Harry G. McCormack and Marie Toppin McCormack. She was married
and divorced to John L. Collins, Jr., who preceded her in death in 1990.
She was also preceded in death by her brothers Edward and Robert
McCormack.
Jane graduated from Orange High School in 1941 and The Berkeley
School, East Orange, NJ in 1942. She retired to Wilmington, NC, in 1987
after working many years for Ciba-Geigy and the Sheffield Tube Corp. in
NJ.
In addition to being a devoted member of St. Mary's Catholic Church for 21 years, she was also
a member of the Catholic Daughters of Americas, the St. Mary's Lady's Guild and was a
Eucharistic Minister. She volunteered countless hours working for the Latimer House and
Thalian Hall downtown, was a member of the Wilmington FAN Club and enjoyed golf,
mahjong, bridge, and bowling with her friends in her spare time.
Jane is survived by her daughter, Nancy J. Collins of Wilmington, NC, son, John L. Collins III
and wife Julie of Big Lake, AK; grandchildren, Matthew Saathoff, Katrina Haughton and
husband Nathan, John Saathoff, Timothy Collins and wife Iris, Jeb Collins and wife Rachel, and
Zachary Collins and great grandchildren; Amber, Sarah, Kimberly, Elizabeth, William, and
Forest; also her beloved dog Bella and her many cats.
A Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated at St. Mary's Catholic Church at 10 AM April 14,
2008. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Daughters of
Charity, Box 1633, 333 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727-9297.
Coble Ward-Smith Funeral and Cremation Service, Oleander Chapel.
Online condolences at StarNewsOnline.com
Published in the Star-News on 4/11/2008.
In “Story of an Hour,” the main character, Mrs. Mallard, dies in the
end because she discovers her husband is not dead as she once
thought. Think about what you know of the character and then
write what may have been published as the obituary. Remember,
obituaries are public so they won’t have the “inside information”
and won’t know all about her feelings.