Workshop: Write Your Own Obituary

Wednesday, 6/3/2026
2:00 - 3:00
Virtual Library

United States

Register

Preserve the details of your life by writing your own obituary and providing for its publication in your legacy planning.  

Learn the basics of obituary informational content and style from the experts in the Magazines and Newspapers Center, librarians who service dozens of obituary requests every month. Obituaries, traditionally published in newspapers, are also known as death notices, funeral announcements or life tributes and require a fee to be published, whether they appear in a newspaper, on a memorial website or as a function of the services of a mortuary/crematorium. These information sources communicate the basics of a person’s birth, life and death; name close relatives of the decedent; and sometimes tell a colorful biography about a person’s impact on the lives of their loved ones.  

Obituaries are useful to contemporary mourners as well as to future genealogists, so don’t leave them out of your legacy planning—join our program to make sure your story lives after your death.  

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This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

Attending Programs

All programs are drop-in (no registration necessary) unless otherwise noted. All SFPL locations are wheelchair accessible. For accommodations (such as ASL), call (415) 557-4557 or contact accessibility@sfpl.org. Requesting at least 3 business days in advance will help ensure availability.

This program will be conducted in English unless otherwise noted.

Notice: This event may be filmed or photographed. By participating in this event, you consent to have your likeness used for the Library’s archival purposes and promotional materials. If you do not want to be photographed, please inform a staff person or the photographer. A sticker will be provided to help identify you so that we can avoid capturing your image.

Public Notice and Disclaimer

This program uses a third-party website link. By clicking on the third-party website link, you will leave SFPL's website and enter a website not operated by SFPL. This service may collect personally identifying information about you, such as name, username, email address, and password. This service will treat the information it collects about you pursuant to its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of each third-party website or service that you visit or use, including those third parties with whom you interact through our Library services. For more information about these third-party links, please see the section of SFPL’s Privacy Policy describing Links to Other Sites.

The views and opinions expressed in programs presented by groups unaffiliated with SFPL do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFPL or the City.