Eulogy Examples For Grandmother
How to Prepare and Write an Eulogy for Your Grandmother
Losing a grandparent, or anyone for that matter is a terrible experience. In the coming days you will relive some memorable times you have spent together, so use it as a reflective period to gather your thoughts and be truly grateful for the women you knew and the times you spend together. Easier said than done, I understand.
As you prepare your eulogy, first know that the honour in doing this is really something to treasure. You were obviously a huge part of her life and no matter what you say or how the eulogy goes, you will have played a huge part in your grandmother’s life.
The best way I can help you is by compiling some of the best examples of eulogies I have found online and their accompanying transcripts in the hope that it will provide some inspiration and ideas for you when writing the eulogy for your grandmother.
I have also partnered with some professional writers to help give you some handy tips when it comes to the structure and tone of the speech as well as templates and a link to their service if you would like a helping hand during this experience.
If I can be of anymore help, please reach out. With best wishes.
A Touching Final Tribute For Grandmother From Grandson
This grandson’s eulogy for his grandma is a loving tribute to amazing grandmothers everywhere.
o we share memories … and I know grandson Cory would like to share when I sought advice on giving this eulogy today I learned three general rules:
I was encouraged by my pastor to be broad and not just focus on my personal experiences with grandma. I keep it classy and don’t I don’t say bad words like ‘poop well’! I appreciate you guy’s feedback. I think you know that that eulogizing grandma I won’t be able to follow those rules.
When I ask people about grandma, I was surprised. The consistency of the feedback I got almost unanimously people recalled her epic storytelling when adventurous tales told at bedtime or while washing her kids’ hair, grandkids’ hair, and neighbours ’kids’ hair.
I hope you guys appreciate the incredible pressure of telling the story of the world’s greatest storyteller. I’m not half the storyteller she is or half the entertainer or presenter but as her.
But I am certain her most favourite and most handsome grandson. Last night I wrote and today will deliver the greatest eulogy of all time.
Perhaps the most difficult test the United States uses for recruiting and Special Forces soldiers has nothing to do with marksmanship or hand-to-hand combat. It’s just a simple race. Young men don full gear and report to the starting point early in the morning. Often sleep-deprived and hungry these recruits are nervous. They don’t know how long the course will be. They don’t know what terrain or what obstacles lie in their path. Some spring forward, others pace themselves, conserving energy in the hope of a longer race. Bonnie and Helen’s grandkids do these every time. Basically, everybody handles things in their own way.
The physical exertion of the test is far or less demanding than the mental strain. It’s the pressure of not knowing the distance to the finish line that pushes many past their breaking point. It’s the fear of the unknown. This is similar to what many families go through. When a loved one is diagnosed with a terminal illness they’re told they’re entering a fight and little else they don’t know how long it will last how painful how stressful how expensive this is going to be. Ambiguous tasks like this are often the best way to reveal a person’s true character.
I needed to speak today to commend my grandma my grandpa my mother my uncle and the rest of our family for facing our ambiguous tests with courage compassion and, of course, humour I’m not going to idealize my grandmother. She was a great person but she was far from perfect. She was a complainer. Somebody always ruined one of her holiday gatherings. As a matter of fact that somebody broke the coffee pot. So somebody’s responsible for that other funeral. I guess she could hold a grudge whenever there was a family disagreement. You’d better be sure to side with grandma! If you want good food, if she was happy, you got bacon eggs and French toast. If she was upset, you’d have often gotten lined in front of you some old people cereal. She could be a little redundant. During Christmas, our family would always play secret bets on how many times she would say that she had the receipt if the clothes didn’t fit. And never everyone remembers her trademark reaction after each present was opened.
She could be a gossip most the time. She knew more about people’s life than they did. When I would ride along on their paper route in the mornings she would share gossip about each house I would drop the paper. She liked motor skills, only driving the car once. And I hear one time she tried to paddle the boat across the lake but dragged the anchor the entire way! So she wasn’t perfect, but it was those imperfections and quirky tendencies that made her so unforgettable to everybody that she met.
The fight my grandma put up was honestly a little surprising. I didn’t think anyone would describe her as a physically tough lady. However, I do recall a few years backstopping to visit my grandparents. I walked in the door and did what you always did when you went to grandma’s: you open the fridge to check for food. Grandpa was watching TV and I noticed a handwritten note on the counter. Grandma loved handwritten personal letters. And this letter read like this: she went to the doctor earlier. She is severely ill with 105 degree temperature. I can’t breathe. I’ll be up and go pick up at 9:00.
So maybe she was a little tougher than I thought but if you look up top of the dictionary you’ll see a picture of my grandpa. She loved her husband for obvious reasons. He’s a man among men. A loving husband. A skilled carpenter and the second best fisherman in the family behind me. I’m told he and grandma met at the lake. According to her, all the girls loved your abs and bulging muscles and then you could have picked up any of the girls there that day. But luckily, for us you picked little Judy Bower!
If I recall, in your words, she was more buoyant than the others. So he made the right choice. During a recent home improvement project at my mom’s, I and my grandpa were putting in a hardwood floor. After my second miss measured cut he really started to say: “I told you so and should have done it my ways.” I got flustered at the time of it but I didn’t really get it. I get it more now grandpa only does things one way: the right way and I want you to know grandpa that the enduring love and devoted commitment you showed your wife and our grandma not only in her final days but throughout your entire 59 year marriage didn’t go unnoticed by your grandsons. So, we’re going to see maybe what got your attention but it’s no doubt her intelligence and sense of humour were what kept you around!
You were always impressed with her skills. I was always impressed with her ability to turn boring into fun she was always the life of the party and one of the very few people I know that were capable and worthy of being the centre of attention. My uncle Jeff and my sister possessed those same abilities and are likely to be the ones responsible for filling that giant void as the family entertainer. Everyone knows of grandma’s intelligence but many don’t know about some of the times when us grandkids truly thought we witnessed her lose her mind one day after several helpings of hoboes and whatever other snacks we could grab, we got involved in some extra rowdy behaviour. After several use of usual verbal warnings of wait till grandpa gets home, she finally snapped, she screamed at us, like the way we never heard. Then she would line us up one by one on the couch and told us not to move. She left and quickly returned with the Himba shillelagh which was a wooden Irish club. She used to scare us one.
Heartwarming Funeral Speech For Grandmother
The following eulogy speech for a grandmother shares her life, values, truths, and experiences with a wide variety of people.
So my grandmother passed away the other day and I figured out I should let you all know because for those of you who have been watching my channel for a while you know that I frequently quote my grandmother.
This is not going to be a sobbing video because if there’s anybody’s life that should be celebrated it’s my grandmother’s! She lived a hundred and three years. She was literally born on leap year in 1916 so technically actually that makes her only twenty-five and three-quarters she was born during World War I, lived through the Great Depression, lived through World War two, lived through the advent of all the technologies that we take for granted.
She was the first on her side to be born in Canada she had two kids: my father and my aunt. From them, she had eight grandkids. From them, she had twenty-one great-grandkids and one great great-grandkid. When I say I want to celebrate my grandmother’s life, I want to put together now the things that she always used to say. One of which was ”You count money, you don’t count loved ones.” And when everyone used to ask her how many grandkids do you have she would say I don’t count grandkids, I can’t I count money. It was fantastic and it was consistent. Another thing she always said and not just said it, she lived by it is: “if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything…” And I was trying to think of an example last night when I was awake, thinking as to when she may have ever not actually lived by that principle and I can’t think of one exception to when she actually said something bad about somebody as opposed to not saying anything, and it’s amazing.
I mean she never saw Twitter. I don’t think she would have gotten Twitter even if she did see it, but Twitter might have shocked her in terms of that life philosophy and the amazing thing is she always remained optimistic throughout her life.
Her husband, my grandfather, died when she was 60, and she lived another 38 years. Without her husband, she still lived 38 years. That could make some people bitter that could make some people angry but my grandmother never got bitter and she never got angry another thing she always used to say, “Birds of a feather flock together” which was in reference to my friends in high school. One of the other classic things she used to use was, “Great minds think alike, though fools seldom differ.” I never really understood how to take that.
She used to tell me about life in Canada when she was growing up. How they would go to the St. Lawrence River and haul out cubes of ice to put in the fridge to keep things cool. I think during the winter or throughout the summer. She lived in this city before it was what it is. I used to show her the videos on YouTube and she didn’t really appreciate at that time in her life what a cellphone was and what these videos were. She lived an amazing life and everyone should be so fortunate to live to that age.
She passed away relatively quickly but you know the last few years of her life at that age were not necessarily the best years of her life but she got pleasure out of life. She was surrounded by loved ones and friends and family. She just passed away, and the amazing thing about the process of death and I saw it with my father-in-law when it happened to him. I said it’s like my wife, when she gave birth I noticed that the body goes through a transformation during the delivery process during the whole birthing process and when I saw my father-in-law pass away and when I saw my grandmother passed away, it’s like the same sort of transition but in the exact opposite.
So in some way, it’s not horrifying and it’s not shocking. It’s just you realizing that there’s transition into life which is what childbirth is and then there’s transition into death and the body just sort of transforms and changes and sort of gets ready to go back to where it came from, so to speak. It was peaceful and she was surrounded by people that she loved and you can’t ask for anything more than that and the other interesting thing that I just noticed about death as a phenomenon is that it’s generational. What happens in the ordinary course of things is, one person dies at a certain age and then you know the next generation gets to be that age and starts dying as well and this thing happens in life where people sort of getting separated as the years go by and then somebody dies and then people get reunited in that death and that’s sort.
Of the process of death and life and reunification, we’re living it now. I say it’s always the hardest. I think it was Stephen Colbert who said when he came back after his mother died it’s not because someone gets really old that somehow it’s easier to deal with. The death, it’s almost like that. The aura is even bigger than it has just been extinguished and it’s you know hard to see how hard it is on other people and you know it is what it is life is going to go on.
Life went on for my grandmother for the 38 years after my grandfather passed away. People are going to live with the good memories and people are going to live with the good lessons and that is pretty much my thoughts and my reflections on this time so that is my eulogy to my grandmother.
A Moving Eulogy For Grandmother
The below eulogy is an example of a teen grandson saying goodbye to his grandmother.
I’ve always compared my grandmother, Julie Andrews, to the fun-loving nature of Mary Poppins, the caring heart of Maria the sass of victor/victoria and the grace of Queen Clarisse Renaldi. But the biggest similarity between the two of them is the fact that they are both loved and admired by many people.
You will never find a soul as kind as hers. It is as bright and warm as the mid-afternoon Sun. Though she may be gone in body, her spirit is still with us it remains in our memories and the stories we tell of her and the lessons she taught us. The lessons that she taught to her children and to their children and that we will continue to teach for generations to come. Lessons on how we should love ourselves, how we should love everything that we do or else what’s the point of doing it, lessons on how we should be kind to not let other people’s hatred get in the way of our niceness. She taught us to sing as loud as we dare even if our voices make our listeners cringe and to dance to whatever beat we see fit!
She taught us how to be strong. She showed us how to be strong. Some people might say she had the heart of a lion but I disagree. I think it’s Lions that had the heart of her! She gave these lessons to all her children but now seeing everyone here, I can tell she gave them to you too.
Now it’s our turn. We all carry a bit of her spirit with us, kept in those memories and lessons. We need to pass it on to our children to our brothers and sisters to our friends, enemies, to strangers, in line at the coffee shop. Teach them how to love everyone unapologetically, especially themselves how to be kind above all else to be unique and vibrant to look every challenge in the eye and tell it we are going to do this my way.
It is a promise. It is not a guarantee. Tomorrow is something that we make of it but we only have today to make it so if you were sad today and you can’t really deal with the emotions in your head you can just work on it. Fight it just a little bit today and then tomorrow. Maybe it’ll be a bit better and you can keep on fighting it.
I can tell you for a fact that the sun will set tonight and if it rises in the morning then we’ll deal with it. Then we should all aspire to live like my grandmother.
Now to finish out I’d like to recite a poem that I wrote in celebration of her:
“You are my sunshine
Those clouds of grey don’t mean a thing. Without you by my side
Summer days are never hard to find
You’re like a day at the beach
Wrapped in a smile.
Those early morning sunrises
That stick with you for a while
I’d love to follow your laughter and send it out
To see a message for those bad days
Saying open when you need me
I wish we could just sing one last chorus
As those cicadas hum, I’ll take the sweet
Caroline’s and you’ll take the bump bump
Um… if I can measure out my love for you
On a track darlin’, I’d love you
To the moon and back
Life may think it can
Take you away but my sunshine lives
On in all our hearts for all our days!
Hello welcome to the end screen
The screen where we end things right now
I just want to take a second
To say grief is a really terrible
The thing to go through
And if you aren’t going through,
Something like that is okay to be sad
It’s okay to cry
Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is just let it all out
And cry and be sad
Just know that you’re not alone
That you were always going to
Be surrounded by people that love you”
How To Write A Eulogy For Your Grandmother
Writing can be a painful task, bother emotionally but also mentally when trying to think of what to write. We have partnered with professional writers to help you build a framework in the hope that it will help inspire your writing and give you some needed structure if you are struggling to get your thoughts onto paper.
Total Time Needed:
2
Hours
30
Minutes
Step 1 – Reflect
The first thing to do is reflect – think about your nan and how you would like the people who come to her funeral to think about her and her family. Think about the happy times that you spent with her and the things she enjoyed.
The second thing to do is to realise that the eulogy does not have to be perfect. It does not have to be lengthy, and it does not have to be poetically beautiful, but it does need to be from the heart.
Whether you are the grandson, or the deceased’s granddaughter (or one of her children) at least one of you will be called up to speak. Some grandchildren create a beautiful eulogy by speaking together, and perhaps sharing the eulogy will also make it easier to support each other.
Next, realise that no one expects you to have completely perfect words. No one expects you to behave without emotion. Yes, it will be important to have some composure if you speak in front of a crowd. But if you tear up and your voice cracks, don’t let that bother you. It’s like Dr Seuss said, “Those that matter, don’t mind, and those that mind, don’t matter.”
Step 2 – An Example
There are many examples of eulogies online that people have used when speaking about their grandmother and her passing. You can certainly take one of those and re-write it and rearrange it to make it your own, adding specific details about your own nan. But what is likely to be more beautiful and meaningful would be a eulogy that you write entirely from scratch.
Whether given from a granddaughter or from a grandson, the eulogy is not the place to air grievances. No one is perfect, and even though there are things that may be left unsaid and unresolved, the funeral is not the place to bring those things up. There is no need to introduce any more emotional tension to the situation.
Step 3 – A Short Eulogy Is Fine
It is very normal to not want to speak in public about a lost relative. No one can or should try to force you to give a eulogy if you don’t wish to do so. But if you do not feel comfortable speaking for a long time, consider whether you could give a short speech. It is possible to create a lovely eulogy in just a few sentences.
If you carefully wrote one out with that in mind, it may look something like the following:
“Thank you for joining us on this difficult day. My nan, as most of you will know, was a devoted and loving mother. She worked very hard her whole life; she worked outside the home for most of the last 30 years. She always checked in with us several times a day when we were children, and even as adults, she made it a point to contact us every day. She was faithful to her husband, family, workplace, and her friends. We all knew that we could depend on her to be there for us. Now we will honour her by being there for each other.”
Step 4 – Add A Funny Story
If you were going to build on a short eulogy and make it longer, you might add a funny story; something like:
“Before nan and grandpa became a serious couple, grandpa asked nana to bake him a pie. She was up to her eyeballs with work and with helping out her parents and siblings. But nan already liked him a lot, so she told him yes, she would be glad to make him a pie, and she asked if he could come over in a few days to get it.
The pie day came quickly, and she was too tired to bake, so she bought a pie from the local grocery store, put it in the oven, and told him she made it herself. He sang her praises to high heaven, and a few weeks later, they were engaged. Gramps did not know she bought the pie until today!”
Remeber. Your Best Is Fine
If you were lucky enough to have a Nan that was supportive and caring, she no doubt at some point in time told you that “Just doing your best is good enough.” If she could say to you that again as you considered her eulogy, she almost certainly would do so. Give yourself permission to say what is on your heart and mind and know that it truly is “enough.”
