Submitting Obituaries

The professional staff at Ithaca Cremation Service will gladly submit a one line death notice to the Ithaca Journal, free of charge, with your family's permission. It will read as follows:

Name of Deceased, Age, Of (where they lived), Date of Death, Ithaca Cremation Service.

With your family's permission, this will also be added to our website under Obituaries. If your family chooses to write an obituary, that will be added to our website as well. We are happy to include a photo here, but it will be an additional cost to include it in the newspaper.

If you desire a full obituary printed in the Ithaca Journal (or other newspaper), your family will be responsible for contacting them, and submitting that. We will verify with them of the passing. Please be aware that they will require payment for the obituary at the time of submission. They accept all major credit cards. *Note: Obituaries are priced per line- the more information, pictures, or family members you list, the more expensive it will be.

Submit obituaries by:

Hand deliver to: 123 West State Street Ithaca, New York

Faxed to: (607) 798-0261

Email: cnyobits@gannett.com

Phone: 1-800-640-1722

Writing Obituaries

Writing an obituary is a difficult and emotional task. First, you will need to gather information from family and friends of the deceased about their childhood, education, career and hobbies and interests. As well, speak to the funeral home to receive any important information on the date, time and location of any funeral service, or other funeral related events. Using the template will help make the process easier and will ensure you write a properly structured obituary.

Instructions: Replace all items in brackets below with the appropriate information.

[GIVEN NAME] [MIDDLE NAME (AND NICKNAME)] [SURNAME NAME], [AGE], of [CITY], [STATE], passed away on [DATE OF DEATH] in [LOCATION OF DEATH]. Funeral service will be held at [LOCATION] on [DATE] at [TIME] with Reverend [NAME] of [CHURCH] officiating. Burial will follow at [CEMETERY NAME], [CEMETERY LOCATION]. Visitation will be held at [LOCATION] on [DATE] at [TIME]. [NAME OF FUNERAL HOME] will be handling the funeral arrangements.

[NAME] was born in [LOCATION OF BIRTH] to [PARENT’S NAMES] on [DATE OF BIRTH]. He/she went to high school at [SCHOOL NAME] and graduated in [YEAR]. He/she went on to earn a degree/certificate in [DEGREE TYPE] from [SCHOOL NAME]. He/she worked as a [JOB TYPE] for [COMPANY] for [NUMBER OF YEARS]. He/she enjoyed [ACTIVITIES/HOBBIES]. He/she received [AWARDS/HONORS] and was involved in [CHARITIES/ORGANIZATIONS].

[NAME] is survived by his/her [RELATION], [NAME] of [CITY]. (List all survivors: spouse children, siblings, parents, grandchildren, nieces and nephews). He/she is preceded in death by his/her [RELATION], [NAME]. (List predeceased: spouse, parents, children and siblings.)

Memorial donations may be made to [ORGANIZATION NAME], [MAILING ADDRESS]. The family wishes to extend their gratitude to [ORGANIZATION/NAME] [FINAL WORDS].

Remember most newspapers charge by the word, this template is good for getting the all the information necessary in as few words possible. However, this template is not written in stone. You can make any adjustments you feel necessary. The less you include in the obituary (such as a long list of family members), the less it will cost in the end.