Writing a Eulogy

Eulogy refers to a good bye tribute addressed towards a deceased member during a funeral or a memorial service. It is used to fondly remember a loved one after they have passed away. A Eulogy will include details such as

• Some background about the person who has passed away.
• A mention of family, friends, work, hobbies etc.
• Important memories related to the deceased person.
• It may also include reading from a printed matter. It may be by way of Holy Scriptures, poetry or any other kind of written work.

Most importantly a Eulogy is delivered from the heart. In the west writing a Eulogy or delivering the Eulogy is considered a matter of honor. The person picked to do that is usually the person who was closest to the deceased and has spent considerable time knowing that person and sharing a lot of thoughts. It is an opportunity to bring the person back to life in the form of memories in the minds of the audience present for the funeral. It gives each one an occasion to remember the moments shared with the loved one and what he meant to them.

An important part of a Eulogy is to bring the memories of the deliverer with the deceased on the forefront. It must be remembered that Eulogy should deal only with happy and important memories and trivial issues should not be referred to. It can include details like how they met, to the things they shared in common. It is also right to touch on the aspects that the deceased was most popular for.

Almost all Eulogy writers will interact with family, co-workers and friends of the deceased to gain more information about the person. A Eulogy can also include information like

• Date of birth.
• Relationships
• Career/work/education
• Hobbies and Interests
• Residential address
• Significant accomplishments and achievements

Writing a Eulogy is not an easy task. So it is important to write a Eulogy well, practice it well and deliver it in a manner that is soothing to the audience.

If you need further assistance, be sure to visit this website for more Eulogy examples

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I got an email from a friend who asked if I knew any good books with eulogy templates and pre-written speeches.  I had to answer honestly.  I don’t.

I have read some decent books on how to write a eulogy, some specializing in eulogies for parents, grandparents, children, etc.  But I’ve never found a book with pre-written memorial speeches that you could put the deceased’s name in and think that you would be honoring them in any way.

There’s a book called A Eulogy to Remember (we offer it here on this site) that has a good explanation of the steps you should take when writing a eulogy, and it does contain thematic outlines, and some sample speeches, but never goes as far as giving you a speech to fill in the blanks.

if you don’t know what to say, or if you are too busy with other funeral preparations to take the time to write a speech that can pay tribute to your loved one, then you should respectfully decline to do the eulogy.

This is one of my favorite funeral poems.  it is generally attributed to Henry Van Dyke, but I have seen it listed as other authors is some books and blogs.

Avoid using a poem that is very religious in nature, specially if you come from a family with varied religious beliefs.  I like this for the ending of a eulogy speech, because it gives the mourners a chance to look at death from their own individual religious, ethnic perspectives while all being able to see it as a positive thing.

A parable of immortality

A ship sails and I stand
Watching till she fades on the horizon
And someone at my side says,
“She is gone”.
Gone where?
Gone from my sight, that is all;
She is just as large as when I saw her.
The diminished size and total loss of sight
Is in me, not in her,
And just at the moment
When someone at my side says
“She is gone”
There are others who are watching her coming,
And other voices take up a glad shout
“There she comes!”