FUNERAL EULOGY SERVICES IN MIDDLETOWN, NJ
John F. Pfleger Funeral Home has provided the Middletown, NJ, community with comprehensive funeral services for several decades. We know that grieving and celebrating the lives of our loved ones can be difficult. To help ease this difficulty, we provide safe spaces for families to gather and start their healing journey. Whether you need help knowing what to expect or helping to plan the service and write a eulogy, our team is here for you. Contact us today.
CREATING A EULOGY FOR A FUNERAL
Eulogies are a classic and beautiful part of funerals and memorial services. It gives family, friends, and strangers a beautiful glimpse into a beautiful life. It can be hard to deliver a funeral eulogy that incorporates hope, memories, humor, and sentiment. While giving and writing eulogies can be nerve-racking, our team at John F. Pfleger Funeral Home wants to make it as easy as possible. With our funeral eulogy advice, delivering a beautiful eulogy is easier than ever.
- Gather Information: The first step is to gather all the information you can about the deceased. Reaching out to close family and friends is a great start. In the eulogy, it’s good to mention the deceased's family and close relationships, their career, education, special interests, hobbies, favorite travel spots, and any accomplishments they or their family were proud of. This information will give a good snapshot of a person's life.
- Organize Your Thoughts: After gathering information, organizing your thoughts and how you want to present them is a great next step. This can be done in several ways, like making a eulogy outline, connecting ideas with an idea map, or organizing stories by topic.
- Laughter Is the Best Medicine: Many people include humor in their eulogy to lighten the mood. However, you want to be respectful when utilizing humor in your eulogy. A great way to provide people with a laugh during a eulogy is by sharing a funny memory of the deceased that family and friends of all ages will enjoy. This is a great way to shed light onto who the deceased was and help family and friends hold onto their memories of them.
- Write It Down: After organizing your thoughts, you’ll want to write down the eulogy. While some public speaking situations such as weddings or parties allow for ad-lib in speeches, a eulogy does not. Even the best public speakers can stumble and get lost when emotions are high. It’s also a good idea to print out the eulogy in a large font or leave space between the lines. Reading in front of people can be scary, especially if you must read the lines through tears.
- Review and Revise: After you write your first draft, you can review and revise the eulogy. While a eulogy does not have to be perfect, reading and revising it a few times helps ensure it flows naturally and conveys what you want.
- Practice: Practicing is a great way to ensure the eulogy flows. When you practice, you can become familiar with your speech so that if you get lost or can’t read through the tears, you know what you want to convey to the funeral guests. Practicing will also make you more comfortable, which can help take some nerves away.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Get Emotional: Emotions during a funeral are natural. If you can’t get through the eulogy without shedding a few tears, that’s okay. If you get too emotional to deliver the eulogy, a good option is to have a close friend or family member deliver the eulogy for you in your place. If this is the case, ask your trusted replacement in advance and get them a copy of the eulogy.
WHO SHOULD DELIVER THE EULOGY?
Who should deliver the eulogy? There are many options. Sometimes the deceased has chosen someone in advance. Sometimes a clergy member, a family member, or a close friend of the deceased may be selected to deliver the eulogy. Recently, the more traditional option of one eulogy speaker has been replaced by asking several people to share their memories with the guests. Whoever is chosen to speak should be someone that knew the deceased well or will be able to properly eulogize the deceased.
PREPARING FOR THE FUNERAL EULOGY
Depending on how well the person delivering the eulogy knew the deceased, some preparation from close family members and friends may be required. If the speaker didn’t know the deceased, provide them with plenty of information, anecdotes, and memories. It’s also beneficial to set them up with resources where they can find more personal anecdotes and stories. Some questions and answers to share with the speaker or to write in the eulogy can include the following:
- What stands out about this person’s life?
- What were some times that I felt particularly close to this person?
- What are some special memories that I’d like to share?
- What were some admirable qualities in this person?
CONTACT US TODAY
If you need help writing or delivering a eulogy for a funeral or memorial service, contact John F. Pfleger Funeral Home. Our services also include funeral service options, cremation services, and resources regarding children and grief. Contact us to learn more about our services and celebrate your loved one's life with dignity and respect.