Regarding the ego angle on obits...

Obituaries often figure into genealogical research. People may refer to them 50 or 100 years from now to make pieces of the puzzle fit -- who's related to who, how did a family arrive or sustain itself at a particular place, where did children live after the grew up?

As much as anything, these are written for descendants.  Sometimes they'll find them in a cedar chest or a family Bible. Increasingly, though, they're being scanned and posted on sites like ancestry.com.