Obituary

An Obituary is a notice of a death. An Obituary is published by the family of the person who died to let more distant family members and friends know about the death. Funeral homes commonly publish obituaries. A description of the person who died is usually included in the obituary. Funeral arrangements are usually part of an obituary. An obituary is distributed via a publication in a newspaper, or via manual handing out or posting of pamphlets.
Some newpapers offer a service of writing a biography for the person who died. 
Old obituaries are a source of information for people writing biographies.