The procedures for creating the obit and updating the obit box remain the same.

Deadlines: Full obits must be in our office by 3 p.m. for the next morning's paper. Incomplete death notices will be taken until 9 p.m.
• If we receive complete obituary information by the 3 p.m. deadline, we run an obituary in the next morning's paper.
• If the information is incomplete or is received after deadline, we run a death notice the next day and an obituary the day after that (or as soon as we have complete information).

We accept obituaries by email, by fax or in person from funeral homes or relatives. For any obituary submitted by a relative, the death must be confirmed by a funeral home or a police agency, or substantiated by a death certificate, to guard against fraud.

GETTING STARTED

Check for new obituaries on the fax machines in the newsroom and the advertising department, and in the Unsorted basket next to the newsroom fax machine.

Remember: The forms sent in by funeral homes may contain errors, so don't hesitate to call them with questions.

Photos: Fill out a scan sheet, attach the picture and take it to a photo technician.

When you've finished writing an obit, press the F7 key; open this obit file from the file menu; type Ctrl-Alt-F which will send a proof copy to the printer and an electronic copy automatically to Obits/Out to Proof; Take the proof to the copy editors and fax to the funeral home. When you have finished writing all the obits:
• Write a list of the obits by last name and indicate which ones have pix. Copy the list and give one to the paginator and one to the copy editor.
• Update the obitbox file in Obits/Misc; then copy the file and send it to Obits/Pagination.
• Initial and date the original forms and put them on Mary Lee's desk.

WRITING THE OBITUARY

In Ted, create a file in Obits/Writing and name it using the format 0105obrown (date it will run, an “o” for “obituary,” and the person's last name). File characteristics should be:

Format: FLS
Category: Obituary
Locality: Regional
Type: Local

THE HEADLINE

To format the headline, hit F9 to get the brackets and type obithd: >obithd<. Type the person's name (remember to use a space between initials) and hit ENTER. The news format will pop up and you can type the obit.

For a death notice, hit F9 and type death inside the brackets: >death<. Type the person's name, hit ENTER and type the notice.

•Do not use courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs.) in the headline.
• A nickname is used in the headline if the funeral home gives us one. Headline should read: Scooter Jones (no quotation marks); lede should read: James R. “Scooter” Jones. (Note that the nickname comes immediately before the surname.)
• If nickname is obvious for the first name (in the above example, if the nickname were “Jim”), put first name, middle initial and last name in headline, and full name in lede. In second or third graph, mention that Mr. Jones was known as Jim.
• If person went by initials, headline would read J.(space)R. Jones, with James Robert Jones in lede.
• We do use Sr. if the family wants it, and we do use Jr., III, etc.
• If the obituary subject was a member of the clergy, use the title in the headline and on first reference, but use Mr. or Mrs. on later references: Rev. Wallace E. Griffin (headline and first reference); Mr. Griffin (second reference).
• If the obituary subject was a military officer or a physician, the title is used on all references: Brig. Gen. John H. Thorsted (headline and first reference); Gen. Thorsted (later references); Dr. Rebecca Souter (headline and first reference), Dr. Souter (later references).
• Do not use “Dr.” except for a medical doctor.

THE TEXT

• Give the full date of death: Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2001, at . . . (use comma after year).
• If a date (of the funeral, for example) is the same as the day the obit will run, use the day of week, month and day (ex. Tuesday, July 9). Don't use “yesterday” or “tomorrow”; if it's not today, specify the day of the week. Don't give the full date unless needed for clarity: A funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Monday.
Yes, this is different from our style for news stories; it's our style for meeting and event notices.
• Always rephrase as necessary to suit our style. See Survivors and family, Miscellaneous style rules and other guidelines in this file.
• Don't use courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs., Miss) in headlines or ledes, but DO use them on later references, as appropriate, for both men and women. See examples.
• From infancy to age 13, boys and girls should be referred to by their first names. From age 14 on, use courtesy titles (Miss, Mr.) as for adults.
• If the subject is a child, the lede should give the child’s name and the names of the parents: Samuel Tyler Baxter, 4, son of Robert and Juanita Baxter of Spotsylvania County, died of leukemia Sunday, May 14, at Children’s Hospital in Washington.
• If the deceased is from a community within a county, use both place names. Example: John Doe, 75, of Sparta in Caroline County died . . . The county name is not necessary when the deceased is from a town (Bowling Green, for example) or a well-known community like Falmouth or Dahlgren. This can be confusing when there is a town with the same name as the county—Culpeper or Orange, in our area. Try to clear it up with the funeral home. If in doubt use County, since those towns are within their respective counties.
• For how to handle survivors' residences, click here.
• A viewing means the body will be on display, but the family may not be there. In that case we use the phrase The body may be viewed . . . If the family will be present, say The family will receive friends . . . If family members will not be present and the casket will be closed, say Friends may call . . . If it's not clear what form the visitation will take, check with the funeral home.
• Don't list pallbearers or honorary pallbearers unless the family wants it.
•If the funeral home doesn’t provide an address for memorial contributions, check the file obitexpressions in Obits/Misc for a list of some of the most frequent beneficiaries.
• Always include the name of the funeral home, so people will know whom to contact for further information. If it isn't mentioned earlier, say at the end of the obit that [So–So Funeral Home] is handling arrangements; spell out Funeral Home or Funeral Service.
• Both Mullins & Thompson and Found & Sons have “no-frills” affiliates called, respectively, Sensible Alternatives and Found & Sons Arrangement Center. If they arrange a graveside or church funeral or a cremation, we would say at the end of the obit that, for example, Sensible Alternatives is handling arrangements. If the arrangements are being made by Sensible Alternatives but the visitation or funeral is being held at one of Mullins & Thompson's chapels, that fact will be mentioned in the body of the obit and there is no need to mention Sensible Alternatives at the end, since it is a part of Mullins & Thompson.

Survivors and family

• We list by name the immediate survivors in any order the family wants. We give the number of grandchildren; number of great-grandchildren; and number of nieces and nephews, and we do run the names of surviving grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, in-laws or other distant relatives unless those relatives were raised by the obituary subject, lived with the obituary subject or are the only survivors. (If raised by or lived with, say: a niece, Mary White, who was raised by Mr. Brown.)
For all named survivors, give the place of residence. For those in our coverage area, use the same system as for the residence of the deceased. It is not necessary to give the residence of a spouse or child who lived with the deceased. For any other relative who lived with the deceased, say of the home: his mother, Mary Smith of the home. See also the entry for Companion, below.
For named survivors who do not live in our coverage area, give the town and state or country.
• Deceased spouses should be named in the biographical info by saying: He was the widower of Jane Brown or She was the widow of John Brown.
• Deceased children should be named at the end of the survivors list: Mr. Brown was also the father of the late Ruby Brown.
• Deceased parents: Don't mention them unless the obit subject was over 100.
• Companion: If the form lists a survivor who lived with the obituary subject but was not a spouse, and if we know that it was a romantic relationship (as opposed to an arrangement of convenience, such as that the person took care of the obituary subject), that survivor is named first, and is referred to as a companion (or fiancé(e), if so listed by the funeral home). The preferred wording is: Survivors include his companion, [name], who lived with him.
If the person lived with the obituary subject as a caretaker, but was not a relative whom we would ordinarily name, include that person’s name (and relationship, if a relative) at the end of the list of survivors: and [his cousin] [name], who lived with and took care of him.
• Adopted child: Our policy is to treat adopted children as we would treat any other sons or daughters, and that means not mentioning the adoption. However, funeral homes will sometimes list a child as “adopted” just to get that name into the obituary, even if no formal adoption took place. It is always wise to ask. If the child was not formally adopted but was raised by the obituary subject we will run the child’s name with an explanation of the relationship.
• Unborn child: We do not normally list an unborn child as a survivor. If the funeral home or family insists, and with the permission of the editor in charge, we might use a carefully worded description such as: Survivors include his wife, Caroline Fisher, who is expecting the couple’s second child.
• A fiancé (male) or fiancée (female), companion or caregiver(s) can be listed at the end of survivors list (but see the entry for Companion, above).
• No friends or pets listed as survivors, please.

Veterans

• A World War II Army veteran or an Army veteran. It's Korean War, not “Korean Conflict”; also Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War.
• Military decorations: A medal is never “won” or “earned”; it is awarded. The following medals can be mentioned, in the order listed. Do not list any other medals unless approved by an editor.

Miscellaneous style rules

• Don't mention the person's birth date unless he/she was over 100.
• Never say the person died “suddenly”; say unexpectedly.
• Never say someone was a “homemaker.”
• Say funeral, not “funeral service,” which is redundant.
• Say the Rev. Joe Doe. When two ministers are officiating, both get the Rev. before their names. If the funeral home gives a different title for the person officiating (e.g., Elder, Deacon, Rabbi), use the title given; do not, however, use Dr. except in the case of a medical doctor.
• A Mass is celebrated, not “said” or “sung.” It's always capitalized, but lowercase any adjectives, as in high Mass or requiem Mass.
• A rosary is said or recited, never “read.” It's always lowercase.
• A person is buried in a cemetery, not “at.”
• For a mausoleum, say the person is entombed in Sunshine Memorial Gardens.
• Say memorial service when the person has been cremated.
• Ashes are committed, not “buried”: Committal of ashes will be in Oak Hill Cemetery.
• Avoid the word “chapel,” except when referring to Mullins & Thompson Funeral Service, Fredericksburg (or Stafford or Spotsylvania) Chapel, or to Found & Sons Funeral Chapels, Culpeper (or Fredericksburg, etc.).
• Capitalization of the word “cemetery”; examples: