31 Real Eulogy Examples: How to Write a Perfect Eulogy

Losing a parent is a feeling like no other, and there is no way of describing how it feels when we lose a mother.

This was the woman that brought you into the world, and she was there for your first breaths. She was there from the very beginning, and when she’s gone, you are left with not just the deepest devastation, but complete and utter confusion: what happens next? Learning to continue with life after losing your mother can be one of the most disorienting emotions a person can experience. 

Writing a eulogy for your own mother will be difficult. There are only so many words you can write, and none of them will ever truly be able to reflect how you felt about her. It may seem impossible to shorten this speech down to only ten minutes.

The best place to begin is writing down the first memories that come to mind when you think about her: these may be from your childhood, or perhaps they are more recent. This will be a truly emotional time, thinking back to those great times you spent together, and it is important to remember that it is okay to feel overwhelmed during these moments. 

Everyone’s relationship with their mother is different. Due to this, it will be difficult for anyone to help you come up with the right words for the eulogy, as no one else will be able to appreciate that relationship that you had. 

However, if you have siblings, perhaps it would be a good idea to ask them to help you. They will be the only other people on this earth who saw your mother the same way that you did. 

It might be a good idea to arrange a time with your siblings when you can get together, and discuss the eulogy. Make sure you take a notepad and pen with you, or some sort of medium that will allow you to take notes.

During this time, try to relax, and discuss the best memories that you experienced with your mother while she was alive. You may hear stories from your siblings that you had never heard before, and while this will be painful, it may be nice to hear these tales and to remember the sort of person that she was. Write these memories down.

Discuss what you loved about her, and even discuss the funny, annoying little things that she would do while you were growing up: for example, her finding out that you had stuck out one night, or her nagging you to do chores around the house. These funny little anecdotes will make you, and the others, laugh and remember even the not-so-great times that you cherish so deeply now.

Due to every person having a different relationship with their mother, it is difficult for us to tell you what to write. Below, there are some examples and prompts that you may use within your mother’s eulogy.

A Loving Mother Eulogy

• ‘As I was growing up, my mother made sure I always knew how much she cared, reminding me each and every day how important I was to her. She would take every opportunity granted to her to remind me how much she loved me.’ 

• ‘My mother really was an amazing person, and I was so lucky to be able to have called myself her son/daughter. I know my siblings feel the exact same way.’

• ‘I just want to take this time to say how grateful I was to her, for everything she ever did for me. My only wish is that I’d have said it more often while she was here.’

Similarly to the last segment, losing a father can be like losing a limb: this may be someone who was there from the very beginning of your life, and it doesn’t feel like that he is no longer with you. If you had a strong bond with your father, you will want to make him proud through this eulogy, even if it causes you pain to write it.

You will likely have a unique view of your father that no one else in the world will have, aside from your siblings. Again, it is definitely worth using the advice from the previous segment and gathering up your siblings, choosing a time and date to discuss your favorite memories with your dad.

It will also be worth talking to your father’s friends and hearing what stories they have to tell about him from over the years: they will likely tell you about things that happened before you were even born.

It will be interesting to find out how different he was around his friends, and it will be interesting to discover things about him that you had never known about before, even now that he is gone. His friends may find it nice to hear your stories too. It is a great way of keeping his memory alive.

Below, there are some examples and prompts that you may use within your father’s eulogy.

A Dedicated Father Eulogy

• ‘A father is a person you look up to, someone you follow, someone you admire, someone to be proud of and someone you want to make proud. He is a person you can cry to, someone to learn from, someone to respect.’ 

• ‘I am so grateful that I was able to spend time with him while he was here.’ 

• ‘He would always listen, and even when we had our disagreements at times, he was always there when I needed him.’

Losing a sibling can be one of the hardest losses a person can go through in their life. While your bond with your parents was something special, a bond with a sibling is often one like no other: you will have lived with this person for many years of your life, and spent a great deal of time with them.

If you were close in age, you most likely went to school together, and several after-school activities. If there was a larger age gap, perhaps you thought of them as a parent figure, or you cared about them like they were your own child.

No matter what, this is a loss that will stick with you for the longest time. A brother or sister is a friend for life, and losing them can be extremely difficult to cope with.

If you have other siblings, take this time to let them help you with the eulogy. It is likely that each of you had different relationships with each other, and shared separate, individual memories over the years. There will probably be stories from when you were children, and the mischief you got up to together.

If you are lucky enough to still have your parents around, ask them about your sibling’s childhood: what were they like as a baby? What were their school reports like? Your parents will have very different memories to you and your siblings, and they will have had very different relationships.

It will be interesting to hear the different stories, and your parents will, most likely, really appreciate spending this time with you after losing a child. This will be an extremely difficult time for them, as it is for you, and one of the best things a family can do at a time like this is stick together, and spend quality time as a group.

Below are some examples and prompts that you may use within your brother or sister’s eulogy.

• ‘This may be a cliche, but my sister/brother wasn’t just my sister/brother growing up: she/he/they really were my best friend. She/he/they were also my first friend.’ 

• ‘While we were growing up, we did everything together, and he/she/they moulded me into the person that I am today, in so many ways. If I needed a shoulder to cry on, he/she/they were there. If I needed advice, or I needed someone to listen, he/she/they were there.’

• ‘Yes, we bickered growing up, but what siblings don’t? No one protected me better, and no one had my back like he/she/they did.’ 

• ‘He/she/they were amazing, and I still haven’t been able to think about what life will be like without them.’

No matter whether you have been together for one year or married for fifty years, it is never easy to lose a partner.

When you are in love with someone, you want to spend the rest of your life with them. You don’t want to consider the possibility that, at some point, one of you will be left without the other. A person may wish that they are the first to go, just so they don’t have to go through the pain of being without the other.

This grief, like the others, is completely unique, and losing a partner can feel like you have lost a part of yourself. While we often have time to prepare for the death of a parent, it can be a complete shock when we lose someone that we expected to spend our whole lives with. It can feel like a betrayal from the world when our forever with this person has been cut short.

Writing an eulogy for a husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, your best friend can be an extremely painful experience. It can be hard to reflect on the good times you had together without feeling overwhelmed.

Please be easy on yourself, and remember that this is normal: it will be hard, and it is important to focus on how you feel your partner would have wanted you to feel: they wouldn’t want you to be breaking your own heart.

They would want you to be happy… and, although this won’t happen overnight, one day you will be able to look back on those moments with your loved one with a smile on your face. Writing this eulogy should include these fond memories. Remember the good times, and know that they will always live on inside your heart.

It may be a good idea to meet up with some friends, preferably ones who knew your partner. You could even take the time to meet up with his/her/their friends too, and their family. Make a note of all the good times they had with your partner, and include these stories in the eulogy. 

Below are some examples and prompts that you may use within your partner’s eulogy.

• ‘[insert name] was a man/woman that can, and will, never be replaced… not just by me, but by anyone. He/she truly was one of a kind.’

• ‘Granted, we had our ups and down, and we weren’t perfect… but, to us, our relationship was perfect. If I could go back and do it all again, I would in a heartbeat, and I wouldn’t change a single thing. I loved them for every flaw, and every perfection.’

• ‘We were together for [insert time], and although I will forever wish that we had had just a little bit longer, I am so grateful I got to spend that time with them.’

While the death of any friend or family member is always heartbreaking, there is nothing that quite matches what it feels like to lose your own child.

No matter how old your child was at the time of their passing, the grief that follows is one that will be particularly difficult to process. We live our lives with the understanding and belief that parents should outlive their children.

When the unimaginable happens, and the parent outlives their child, it truly is the ultimate tragedy. Bereaving parents lose a part of themselves when they lose a son or a daughter. You not only witnessed their entrance into this world, but you also witnessed their exit: this feels unnatural, and it should never have happened. It can be an extremely hard notion to process.

The thought of speaking about your child in front of an audience, telling them about the many stories and memories you hold of them, can be terrifying. It is something that no person should ever have to do. If you feel that you truly want to write and read a eulogy for your child, you should make sure to take breaks often, and give yourself the time that you need. Don’t rush this process. 

Your family and friends will surely want to be there for you at this time, and they may want to help you along this journey. The child’s other parent should also help you through the writing process: after all, he/she/they will be the only other person who truly understands your loss. This is going to be difficult, but try to focus on the good memories. Remember the happy times you spent with your child, and provide them with the eulogy that they deserve. 

Below are some examples and prompts that you may use within your child’s eulogy.

• ‘[Insert name] was my son/daughter, and we had a bond that I will never be able to describe fully with words.’ 

• ‘From a young age, [insert name] had the strongest, funniest personality, and managed to shine in every room they entered. Growing up, he/she was so curious, and always aimed for the stars.’ 

• ‘I could never fully understand how I had created such a perfect child.’ 

• ‘I always wished that he/she/they would achieve everything they wanted in life, and I truly believed they did. If he/she/they wasn’t anything else, he/she/they was happy. He/she/they were always so happy.’

Lastly, but certainly not least, we will be looking at how to write a great eulogy for a dear friend.

Throughout our lives, we will meet people who we can become closer to than our own family members. We will see them more often than our parents, siblings, and sometimes our partners, and we grow close to them in ways that we could never imagine being close to anyone else.

Our friends often become secondary family members to us, and their loss can affect us extremely negatively. If we lose someone who is close to our age, this can also hit us harder than most losses, as we often don’t see it coming: we expect people our age to live as long as we do, and it is the ultimate reality check when they don’t. We expect these people to stay with us forever. 

If you have been chosen to write a eulogy for your friend, you should consider it one of the highest honors you could be given: your friend most likely had family members, and several other friends, and so the fact that you have been chosen to give a speech at their funeral should feel like a privilege.

You may not see it that way at first: grief has a funny way of cancelling out all over emotions, and a ten-minute speech may not seem important in the grand scheme of things. However, it is your job to make sure your friend is honored in the best way possible, and you surely have many great stories to share with their loved ones. 

It could be a good idea to meet up with this person’s other friends: your friendship group can work together and note down every great memory you shared with this person.

There will surely be many funny anecdotes that you will want to share and lighten the mood for everyone else at the funeral. These memories will live with you forever, and even though your friend is gone, they will be kept alive through these infamous tales told by you and your friends. Make your friend proud.

Below are some examples and prompts that you may use within your friend’s eulogy. 

• ‘[Insert name] was such a huge presence in our lives, and this is a loss that will stay with me forever.’ 

• ‘It’s so hard to find the right words to do him/her/them justice, and to truly express who they were, and what he/she/they meant to us.’ 

• ‘He/she/they really, truly cared about us, and in the world that we live in, it is pretty difficult to come across true friends like [insert name].’ 

• ‘He/she/they were the sort of person who would do anything for you, day or night. I honestly don’t know where I would be right now without him/her/them.’

Best Friend: Eulogy Examples To A Best Friend

You shared the best memories and so the eulogies shared have a mixture of emotion and humour to honour a lost friend.

We have spoken to 5 professional Eulogy writers to get their tips to help you create the most fitting eulogy.

1. Gather Your Material

Firstly, as you write down all your thoughts and feelings of the deceased, gather as much information from close family and friends, as well as their old acquaintances from work or even school as you can. They will hopefully be able to add to your own memories and stories.

Writing a eulogy does not have to be done totally by yourself, getting others to contribute like this, not only helps you, but will make others feel like they are contributing, and may help them with their grieving too.

Looking at old photographs can jog the memory, reliving old times, old places, old achievements.

2. Pick a Theme, Avoid Chronological Lists and Be Upbeat

Rather than listing events in chronological order, focus points based around achievements and a theme. Was the person always happy, were they the life and soul, a quiet and kind person or just someone you could rely on.

By picking out a central theme, this helps focus all short stories you might recite and allows the eulogy to flow, rather than simply reading a list of dry facts.

Explore moments and memories that touched you and try to group those thoughts together to create some kind of structure.

3. Slow down, express yourself and be open

By slowing down your speech, you give yoursel to thin kand the audience to follow along. Dont rush through it to get it over with.

Deliver the speech by expressing emotions and varying tones in your voice. Avoid a monotone delivery.

An open body language will help the audience connect with you.

4. Give Yourself Time to Write and Practice

Allow yourself the time and emotional space to experience the process. It’s a writing process, but it’s an emotional process, too. Allow yourself that grace as you write; you will need it as you recall memories and stories about times spent with your loved one who has now passed on.

Once you have a draft, give yourself time to practice aloud.

5. Read Examples

We have provided a number of eulogy examples above, so take time to read and watch them to get a feel of how you would like to recite the finals words.

Please do not try to copy or imitate anyone though, some people are naturally better or more experienced at speaking in public so just do you, be personable and speak from the heart.

Eulogy Templates

Whilst I do not recommend the use of a eulogy template approach when writing a eulogy, I understand it might help some people. Below I have drafted 2 versions.

The first one is just an idea of things you could include and a basic outline.

The second is a ‘fill in the blank’ type template. Please don’t use this word for word and just use it to help you with some ideas.

Frequently Asked Eulogy Questions