Eulogy Template: 27 Heartfelt Templates to Honor the Memories of Your Loved Ones

Coping up with the loss of a loved one is never easy. The grief and the sorrow which well in your being cause the floodgates inside of you to break with an overwhelming deluge of emotions. It is hard to witness the living existence of a person being diminished into a memory.

The funeral is held soon after, in the honor of the passing of the individual. It is an important occasion for the said individual. The people attending the funeral are supposed to be in a fragile state. However, the funeral is one occasion when you can pay your final respects to the person. It is an occasion with which you can ensure the said person, goes out with a bang.

Composing a eulogy speech in a grief-ridden mental state is certainly not an easy task. However, it is the best way with which you can acknowledge and preserve the importance of your loved one’s life. Your heartfelt tribute has the power to honor and permanently brand the memories of the deceased loved one into the minds of your listeners. When delivered with love and respect, your eulogy will forever strike those attending the funeral with memories and legacies of the deceased.

Due to this, it is very important that you write a perfect eulogy to honor the memories of your loved one. There are certain guidelines which are required to be followed for writing a eulogy. However, the truest of eulogies come straight from the heart.

Given below is an impactful insight which you can use to deliver the perfect eulogy.

Important Eulogy Templates

We have numerous family members or friends. Due to this, it is hard for us to prepare a single eulogy template for all of them. Due to this, we have created a list of eulogy templates which can be delivered to each and every loved one that you may have lost. This includes:

1. Eulogy Template for Mother
2. Eulogy Template for Father
3. Eulogy Template for Friend
4. Eulogy Template for Brother
5. Eulogy Template for Grandmother
6. Eulogy Template for Sister
7. Eulogy Template for Grandfather

Typical Eulogy Template

Eulogy is a speech given at a funeral or memorial service to commommerate or celebrate the life of the deceased person. It is a special honor to the family members or friends or a celebrant to give an eulogy speech. Here are some examples of some Eulogy Templates that help you to make a perfect eulogy.

Eulogy Template for Mother

A few example statements which you can use for writing a eulogy for your mother are:

1. She was one vibrant soul. One whose aura lit up all the corners of the room whenever she entered.
2. Even when her movements were restricted to that of a wheelchair, her joyousness didn’t decline even by a bit.
3. Being survived by four of her own kids as well another four grandchildren, it would not be wrong to say that mum’s life was an adventure of its own.
4. Running haywire to take care of us and meet all our demands gave mum a hard time. However, there wasn’t a single shred of complaint that slipped through her lips.
5. It was being around her family which gave mum the greatest joy of all. Her life put a fair share of obstacles in her path. However, it never deterred or put her family out of focus.
6. The only earthly creatures which mom loved more than her family was animals. If she wasn’t with her family, mum could be seen rescuing cats or dogs or both from an animal shelter. Mum was quite an active lady. She actively worked with animal rescuers to help care for the pets and find homes for them.
7. Even though she is gone now, I know that she will never be truly forgotten. Her legacy lives within us and will continue to do so.

Eulogy Template for Father

A few examples for eulogy template for father are:

1. There are a lot of adjectives which could be used to describe my father’s life. A sense of duty, simplicity, decency, respect etc. However, none of these are par to the word that I’m about to say next. Admiration.
2. I admire my father because he was a kind father. He loved us. However, this did not fail him from instilling the core values within us. It is these core values which still defines who he was.
3. Dad was the best when was around Mum, his best friend. In their early days, dad and mum would often whisk off for some adventure. A lot of the time, they had no idea where they were off to. They would just drive and get some much-needed relaxation.
4. Even when we moved out and had walked the path of our lives, our dad never stopped helping us. He kept teaching us everything starting from responsibility, the importance of family life, the importance of marriage and tips on keeping a marriage alive and healthy.
5. Dad will surely be missed. Everybody who is here is symbolic of this fact. He will be missed by his friends for the jokes which he cracked over a cup of coffee. He will be missed by his grandchildren who enjoyed the giddy-up rides. He will be missed by my mom. By most of all, he will be missed by me.

Eulogy Template for Friend

Given below are a few eulogy templates for a friend:

1. It is with great sadness that I stand before you to celebrate the life of my friend, Person A. Person A was taken away from us too soon and it hard to understand why and how such a thing could happen.
2. However, today isn’t the day when we comprehend why we lost our friend. No. Today is the day on which we stand to celebrate the life of our friend. Person A was taken too soon from us. And on this day, we should focus on recounting on the remarkable things which Person A did in his life and how his life impacted us.
3. Person A and I remained a good friend even when life forced us to drift apart. Even though we were far, our friendship never faltered. He was the best man at my wedding as I was at his.
4. Person A was a responsible, intelligent and caring person who was respected by everyone around him.
5. It grieves all of us to see such a person pass away at such an early age. I cannot form the words to describe the loss that I feel in my being. Even though he is gone, we will never forget him for his memory lives on within all of us.

Eulogy Template for Brother

A few examples for a eulogy template for a brother are:

1. All of us are gathered here in the memory of my brother, Person A. We are here to celebrate the life that Person A lived and to share the pain that his passing brings upon us. By sharing the joy and the pain, we dimish the pain a little so that we may remember the joyous life that Person A lived.
2. Growing up, Person A was quite close to his family and his friends. He was a comfort for our mum as well as our dad when they were still alive. He was so devoted to their health and well-being that I never needed to be there as long as he was there.
3. Person A was a responsible individual. He performed all that was required of him and more to protect our family. Even when he was in the midst of the tough times, he was happiest when surrounded by his family.
4. Person A was a nature devout as well. He believed in sharing the fruits that were borne was nature herself. He enjoyed growing produce and sharing them with his peers. He didn’t have a single aspect of meanness in his being. It was this goodness of his being that allowed him to leave a mark on this world.
5. Even though his journey with us ends here, Person A shall be forever preserved in our minds. He is a person whose touch made every aspect positive. He left this world a better place than it was before and it our job to do the same.

Eulogy Template for Grandmother

A few examples of eulogy template for grandmother are:

1. If there was one person who didn’t require a lot to make her happy, it was my grandmother, Person A. A phone call, a visit, a letter, a good night kiss- these were all the things that my grandmother required to keep her happy.
2. Grandma’s compassion knew no bounds. She was always there to help her friends be it neighbors, friends, relatives or cousins. The prime reason for this was the time that she spent on helping others. She always gave away everything when it came to charity.
3. She was an expressive and loving person. Even though her life threw some mean obstacles towards her, she never faltered or even changed. She was selfless all her life.
4. As I stand in front you today, I can clearly witness all the lives that she touched. I know by this that she has achieved what she set out to do. She proved to us that anything and everything is possible.

Eulogy Template for Sister

A few examples of eulogy template for sister are:

1. Person A was a lot more than just my sister. She was my closest friend. Even though she was younger than me, she was a lot more close to me than anybody else.
2. If there was one thing that my sister more than anything, it was to make everybody happy. She loved to help people and would do anything to help people.
3. Person A was a warm person. She was a lover of animals as well. Whenever she has some free time, she volunteered to help people by taking care of animals at the local care center. She was one of the warmest people that I have ever met.

Eulogy Template for Grandfather

A few examples for eulogy template for grandfather are:

1. My grandfather was perhaps the most humble of people out there. He never wanted the spotlight and never wanted people to focus on him. Instead, he wanted people to appreciate each other and focus on the happiness that we had in our lives.
2. For grandpa, work was worship. With whatever job he was involved in, he made sure that he did it to the best of his efforts and in the right way. He never cut corners, never cheated on his work. And he made sure that his work made other people happy.
3. Grandpa always said that it was we grandchildren who kept him young at heart. This was another of those aspects of grandfather which made us feel about him. He was a fun loving spirit who taught various valuable lessons in life. He taught us the importance of being selfless and kind by being the loving grandparent that he was.
4. Grandpa was always there to support us, whatever the situation might be. He didn’t even need to be asked. He will be truly missed by all of us who have gathered here. Grandpa was a one in a million soul. He has provided us with so many memories of himself which will forever preserve his soul in our memories.

How To Write A Eulogy

History records that the custom of delivering eulogies began back in ancient Greece, with the tradition being followed to this day. Although, it is not a custom followed by each and every religion out there, a few of them employ eulogies to immortalize the memories of the deceased.

Writing a eulogy isn’t very hard. All it takes is for you to follow a few tips which you can use to greatly enhance your speech. The tips are:

1. The essence to conjuring up an everlasting eulogy lies in taking inspiration from the smallest of details. Talk to people who were close to the deceased such as family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues and such. Ask them to describe everything about the person in detail. Keep an eye out for the small details such as – their favorite food, books, movies, life instances etc.
2. You can also derive inspiration from other sources. You can find various tributes online. Read through them and try to comprehend the writing pattern. You can also check the obituary column mentioned in newspapers as well. Use the information that you gather from here to try and connect with your loved one.
3. Before you actually begin to write your eulogy, build a series of questions on the basis of which you will write the eulogy. These questions could be based on the various aspects of your loved one. Try to answer them one by one and note them down. With the help of the questions, you can sum up the entirety of your loved one’s life. Use this data to understand who they were and what their life meant to the people around them.

Don’t edit out even a shred of data at this stage. Even the smallest of details could help you share the best of stories with the funeral attendees. Not only could this provide various things which you can share, but also strike the audience with the best of memories.

4. The editing process follows the brainstorming one. However, it isn’t advised that you perform the entirety of the brainstorming and editing at one go. Perform all of it in stages. With the ideas collected, brainstorm for an hour or two. As soon as some time passes, halt the brainstorming process and glance back at what you’ve have written. Edit out the irrelevant everyday-life details to make way for the most striking of details. Keep an eye out for those details which can vibrantly paint the life of the individual.
5. Finally, put everything that you have in order in writing. Write everything in a frank but respectful language. Refrain from using fancy language. Stay especially away from unfamiliar language. Write the eulogy in a language in which you would normally converse in.

With the information gathered to write the first draft of the eulogy. Now, you should always remember that nothing good is going to happen right at the first draft. Therefore, you will need to edit the draft multiple times before you chance upon the draft that you love.

The important thing that you should keep in mind is to convey what your thoughts and feelings represent about the person instead of focusing on the literature for writing. 

How To Start The Eulogy

Planning the start of a eulogy is always puzzling. At such a point, you should have formulated a lot of ideas via brainstorming. And it is hard to incorporate just one of those ideas into the start.

However, you can solve this problem by employing just one simple solution: a theme.

Setting a theme not only provides you with an apt beginning for your eulogy, but it also helps you to structure the accolade by bringing together the best stories and combining them with the right images. This helps you to form the best impression of your eulogy in the minds of the attendees.

There are three major themes which you can use to give the best start to your eulogy. A few of these include:

1. Memoir – A memoir or a biographical theme allows you to relive the memories of the departed’s life. Usually, memoir eulogies are delivered by people who were close to the deceased loved one but weren’t exactly family. People who deliver memoir eulogies are usually close acquaintances or even work colleagues.

Such individuals have a lot of interesting life stories about the departed. Memoirs are also helpful for addressing the high points, such as accomplishments and awards received, by the people. Such eulogies begin by:

1. Who was Person A?
2. Courage in the face of adversity
3. There are three important things that I learned from Person A
4. Characteristic – A characteristic or personal theme is written and delivered by a person who is highly close to the loved one. This could include close family or even friends. Similar to a memoir, characteristic themes are also based on the memories and instances of a person.

However, unlike memoirs, characteristic eulogies make it a point to include stories about the life of the departed and how their life has improved the lives of those who have left behind. Going with the flow of the context, the speaker mentions about the people left behind such as children, spouse, achievement of community goodwill, charities work etc.

Usually, characteristic eulogies begin by:

1. What would the picture of our lives be without Person A?
2. It was Person A one who showed and bestowed the gift of happiness upon us.
3. His love towards diversity amazed and educated us all.
4. Special – Special themes employ numerous terminologies. Due to this, it is difficult to refer to one single type of eulogy as a special eulogy.

Special themes could be relating closely to some special event or occurrence in the life of the person. Or they can be written in a humorous or light-hearted manner. Religious eulogies could also be categorized as special eulogies.

People also prefer to use a highly memorable song lyric as a means to start their eulogy. This lyric could be a personal favorite of the departed loved. Such a eulogy is also an example of a special theme. A few examples of how special themes start are:

1. I learned something valuable on that fishing trip with Person A.
2. He was one joyous spirit.

What Should You Say In You Eulogy

When a family in mourning asks you to deliver a eulogy, it is usually because you are considered a close person who is important to them as well as the person who has departed. Due to this, the eulogy that you deliver will mean simply more than the words that you convey. It will be all about the emotions that you convey via your speech. Due to this, you need to carefully draft your speech so that you can express what you want in your eulogy.

A few aspects which you could keep in mind while drafting your eulogy speech are:

1. Try to draft a eulogy which is completely fact-based.
2. Recount all the time spent with the departed in chronological order. Start from the earliest memories that you have and continue up till the latest ones. This will help the attendees to go with the flow of your eulogy and keep track of the chronology.
3. When you are about to conclude the eulogy, attach a small note of remembrance. Let the attendees know that the loved one is forever etched your hearts and you will allow him or her to be forgotten.
4. Use personal quotes and stories in your eulogy. Relate stories which are quite close to your heart and which no one knows about. Use your judgment to discern whether those stories are appropriate and relevant as well. Use light-hearted speech to help the assembly feel comfortable with your eulogy.
5. A majority of people who feel that it would be inappropriate to include jokes in a eulogy. However, it is not so. You can freely employ jokes into your eulogy. There are a vast number of people who include jokes in their eulogies to lighten up the atmosphere as well as recount a few of the funny incidents of the loved one. However, you should use your discernment to know whether your intended joke can be perceived as funny and appropriate by the attendees.

How Long Should A Eulogy Be

In a general sense, the length of a eulogy should range from 3-5 minutes and go up till 10 minutes. However, you should make it a point to not exceed the 10-minute mark. There are other loved ones in a family too who want to pay their respects and it would be highly rude, impolite and disrespectful if you hinder them from doing so.

If you are wondering about the number of words to be included in your draft, you can figure it out depending at the speed at which you deliver the speech. On an average, it takes people around three to seven minutes to read a thousand words. However, you shouldn’t simply tally to this statistic. Make it a point to calculate the actual amount of time that you will require for you to deliver your eulogy and edit it according to the time.

Various funeral venues allot a specific duration of time for eulogy deliverance. It is during this time limit within which are required to deliver your eulogy. Try to formulate a eulogy on the basis of this duration. Try and see how many words you can speak within the time limit and edit your speech according to this. If you want, you can ask the funeral director to advise you on writing a eulogy within the appropriate amount of time.

What is the Purpose of a Eulogy

A eulogy is delivered to bring honor and praise to the memory of the person departed. It is delivered as a present signifying remembrance and bidding farewell to their memory. Typically, in a funeral, there are several people who deliver eulogies and bid farewell to the loved one.

Eulogies are the most important aspects of a funeral service. It allows the family and friends of the loved one to express the impact that the person’s existence had in their lives. It displays how much he or she meant to them and how wide of a gap they have left in their lives with their departure. Eulogies also consist of numerous and previously unknown personal accounts that the family and friends had with the loved one. Recounting such stories results in a unique and special service for the departed.

There are various elements which work to make a eulogy concise and well-organized. One element is that of the multitude of different stories. All of us want to cover the various stories in the midst of the accolade. However, there isn’t enough time to support us for this. Due to this, we need to keep the purpose of the eulogy in mind. A eulogy isn’t about you. The time allotted isn’t meant for you to recount the memories which you shared with the loved one. It is all about the emotions that you genuinely come out of your heart to acknowledge the loved one.

Are Eulogies Allowed At Catholic Funerals

Eulogies are officially discouraged at Catholic funerals. In 1989, the Vatican made it clear that a brief homily or preachment should be delivered at the funeral but there should never be any form of eulogy deliverance.

The principle upon which this law was made was that people often make the eulogies as the centerpiece of the service. Due to this, they distract the service from the main goal or intention of the service, which is the Christian message of death.