Potentially a little (a lot) morbid, but on my journalism course our exercise for learning to write obits was to pick a fellow course member and imagine their life (could be as straight-laced or as boring as you liked) then write an obit for them. They were all saved up and read out by the tutor on the last day - including a brilliant one for someone who had drunkenly confessed he let his gf piss on him, whose obit ended; *He was killed in a water-skiing accident, but watersports were always his passion*, which got a huge laugh but confused the teachers no end.

If you need inspiration, THIS is a fantastic obit: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sunherald/obituary.aspx?n=harry-stamps&pid=163538353&fhid=4025#fbLoggedOut