Eulogy for [Name]

Morning mist over a still lake
How to use this template

There's no need to write it in one sitting. Start by jotting memories under Gather, a few words each, and ask family and friends for theirs. Then find the thread that runs through the best of them, and write the eulogy in five short parts.

Four to five minutes is plenty, at about 130 words a minute; write for a minute less than you're given. When it's ready, delete everything but the eulogy itself and print it in large type.

If you're worried about getting through it, mark a place to pause and breathe, and give a copy to someone who can finish it for you. Stopping for a moment is all right. Everyone in the room is with you.

Before you write

Service

You speak

Time you have

Other speakers

The name you'll use

Check details with

Gather

A few words each. You'll use only some of them.

  • Something they always said:

  • What kept their hands busy:

  • A place that was theirs:

  • Something nobody could talk them out of:

  • Someone they helped without telling anyone:

  • Stories from others:

The thread

The quality or habit that runs through the best of those memories.

The eulogy

1. Opening · about 30 seconds

Who you are, and one picture of them.

Good morning. I'm [name], [Name]'s [son / niece / friend].

2. Their life in brief · about 45 seconds

Only the facts the stories need: where they grew up, work, family.

3. Stories · about 3 minutes

Two or three, each ending with a line back to them. The one that matters most goes last.

First story:

Second story:

Third story:

See an example story

Setup: The winter I turned sixteen, Dad taught me to drive in the church parking lot after evening service.

What happened: I stalled his truck eleven times. He never raised his voice once. He just said, “Again,” and turned the radio down a little more each time. On the twelfth try I made it all the way around the lot, and he clapped like I'd won something.

The line back to him: That was Dad. He never minded how many tries it took, as long as you didn't stop.

4. What they leave · about 45 seconds

What the people in this room carry forward from them.

5. Goodbye · about 20 seconds

A last word to them, or a return to your opening.

Optional: A poem, prayer or song they loved

Up to four lines, with the author's name.

Before the service

  • Read aloud and timed, under the limit

  • Names, places and dates checked with the family

  • Read by one person close to the family

  • Headings and notes deleted; printed in large type, double-spaced, pages numbered

  • A second copy given to someone who can finish it for you

  • A copy set aside for the family