1. You may send in a newspaper clipping or obituary from another publication for the staff to edit.
2. If you prefer to write the obituary yourself, keep in mind that submissions should be kept short—three or four sentences; include information to identify the deceased, with a key highlight or two.
3. Submissions will appear in the issue for which they meet the published deadlines; if submissions exceed the amount of space allotted in an issue, the most recent obituaries may be held until the next issue.
4. Submissions that are dated more than six months from date of death will be printed only if space permits.
5. All submissions are subject to editing by staff for clarity and length.
6.  Format:

The first line should read:
“Name, Advanced Berkeley degree (if any), Date of death, in Place (City, State).”

If the deceased died while traveling, also specify city and state of residence.
“John Smith, M.A. ‘45, November 12, in Patagonia, AZ. A resident of Fargo, ND, ...”

The last line lists survivors in the following order: widow/widower, children, and then grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“He is survived by his wife, Dora ‘40; two children; and three grandchildren.”

The widow(er) is named.

Only the number of offspring is cited, unless one of the children or grandchildren is a Cal grad and the year of graduation is known. In that case, you may include all the children’s names.
“He is survived by his wife, Dora ‘40; children Tom ‘82 and Lindsay; and two grandchildren.”

Do not separate surviving children by sex.
“He is survived by four children.” or “He is survived by two sons and a granddaughter.”
but not “He is survived by two sons and two daughters.”

Include stepchildren if the second spouse is still living.

When there is no widow(er) or children, you may mention other relatives.
“She is survived by several nieces and nephews.”

Do not mention ancestors, predeceased spouses, family members, or in-laws.

Do not mention the cause of death; only occasionally will standard obituaries mention it, such as when the deceased was very young (last 10 graduating classes).

Affiliations with multiple organizations, such as the Elks, Kiwanis, Rotary, AAUW, etc. should be condensed into a sentence.
“He belonged to several fraternal and veterans’ organizations.” or “She was an active volunteer in Piedmont charities.”

Please list requests for charitable donations only if they are UC Berkeley or CAA entities. The correct style is:
“Contributions in his/her memory can be sent to…”

SUBMISSIONS

We prefer that obituaries be submitted by email to californiamag@alumni.berkeley.edu with the subject line “In Memoriam: first name, last name, class year.”

Submissions also can be faxed to 510.642.6252, attention “In Memoriam”; or mailed to:

In Memoriam
California magazine
1 Alumni House
Berkeley, CA 94720