Parents in their eighties-I know many snippets of things about them when they were young peeps, long before they dreamed of kids, kids kids, and so forth.
Call me overly anal-I’ve been called worse-I’d like to start working on “Mr. X of Horsefart, OK passed yesterday…” such that when one of my parents passes, it’s one less thing on the to do list. If I accumulate his service record in WWII, her nurse’s training, and all of that, it’s a done deal.
How have other Dopers managed this?
I have thought about my parent’s obits… and knowing them, when they go I will probably discover their versions already done!
Born and raised info, schooling and profession, charitable work, service organizations, scouting… that kind of stuff. Plus my dad’s favorite bodysurfing breaks!
And I also think that having one less thing on your plate when the time comes can only help.
We really didn’t have to research anything when my dad died. We knew pretty much everything that would be relevant to his obit. Of course, my dad died young and my brother and I were pretty much in contact with the 'rents our entire lives (no long gaps in personal knowledge) so we knew most of his hobbies/organizations/etc.
Speaking as someone who had to sit around a table with her siblings and uncle, who insisted on coming up with a proper obituary right then, not half an hour after the mortuary had removed her dad’s body from the house, I commend you for thinking of this now, before you need it. We managed to write something that wasn’t embarrassing, but if we’d had a little more time and a calmer environment, there was so much more we could have said, and we could have said it better.
The way we did come up with a passable obit was to sit around together and think out loud. Between three of my dad’s kids, his brother and sister-in-law, his wife, and one of his ex-wives, we remembered a lot more things than one of us alone could have.
Having read the responses, I think the best move is to sit with them while they still have a sense of humor, and ask what they’d like written, the alternative being that I’ll write a bone was shoved in their bum and the dogs dragged them off. 
Thank you, InternetLegend-perhaps I can hit Abq in late September/early October and we can share a beer.
Any time you’re in town, I’ll gladly take you up on that! Maybe we can pre-write my obit while we’re at it.
Where north of the Mason-Dixon line do they use the word “bum”?
Pritnear everywhere. Can I bum a smoke? They gave him the bum’s rush. Jesus-you look like a bum. Stuff it in yer bum. I’ve heard all, or variants thereof.