How to write a eulogy for your colleague

Work is often an important part of a person's life. Therefore, a speech on behalf of colleagues is appropriate during the funeral.

Coordinate with each other in advance:

  1. who will speak?
  2. what do you say about your colleague?
  3. how long will you speech?

I will go through these questions one by one for you. I will conclude with an example of a funeral speech for a colleague.

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1. Who will speak?

Perhaps your workplace is primarily business-oriented. Or is there room in the relationships between your colleagues for sharing joys and sorrows?

If you mainly want to show respect and appreciation in the funeral speech for your colleague, then a speaker who was somewhat distant from the deceased is very suitable.

If you want to show that the death affects you as an organization and as colleagues, choose a speaker who knew the deceased colleague well. This makes it more personal.

Angelique, as a colleague, never told much about herself. Mies, her supervisor, therefore included in her speech appreciative words about how Angelique had always done her work, and what she had meant for the results of her team.

Give your funeral speech by invitation only

Don't just assume that you will be allowed to speak about your colleague. Coordinate this with the relatives.

The order of service for a funeral is now determined in advance. If the relatives want someone from 'the (volunteer) work' to speak, they will let you know in the days before the funeral.

You can, of course, also take the initiative yourself as a colleague or supervisor and indicate to the relatives that you would like to speak.

For the colleagues' grieving process, sharing your memories during the ceremony can be important.

Tip: if you do not get the opportunity to speak, write a speech anyway and share it on paper with the relatives and with the close colleagues of the deceased.

Because Tom's work had always remained very important to him, even after his retirement, the relatives asked a former colleague to tell something about that part of his life at the cremation ceremony.

2. What do you tell about your colleague?

During your speech, you speak on behalf of the organization about your colleague to the relatives. You want to do justice to the memories of the deceased colleague. You can use your own memories, but it is also good to ask for input from other colleagues. Make time for that together.

How long has the colleague worked at the organization, and in what positions? What changes were there in the organization during that period and how did your colleague position themselves in those changes?

What did you have to each other as colleagues? Was there also contact outside of work, in the private sphere or beyond work? What did the deceased colleague share at work from their home situation and in what way?

In what you as colleagues have experienced together, how does the deceased colleague come forward in it? Did you support each other, did the deceased colleague have a sense of humor, how was the deceased colleague present?
Dirk told how Cora had more and more photos on her pin board in the years that they worked together. First only of her partner, then also of her children. And later of her grandchildren. And that was not the only way colleagues got something of her family life.

3. How long will your speech last?

You coordinate the length of your contribution during the funeral ceremony of your employee with the family. At the moment that you have agreed that there will be a funeral speech from the company or the (volunteer) organization, you can safely ask how long it may be.

You don't have to keep it too short: make it especially personal. When considering what you are going to say, reason from what the relatives would want to know and from what is important for the processing of the colleagues.

At the same time, try not to digress. A list of 'feats' of your deceased colleague is only relevant insofar as there is a link with who the deceased was as a person.

During the enumeration of all organizational changes, most attendees lost their attention. They perked up again when the director told how Marco had questioned her sharply and critically during an assessment in her application procedure. That was the Marco everyone knew.

Example:

Idris talks about his employee Angelo

Good afternoon, my name is Idris, I am Angelo's direct supervisor, and I want to take you through how we, as colleagues at the town hall, got to know Angelo in the time that we worked with him.

There are still a few colleagues who know how he came to us 15 years ago. During his first year as… he already showed that he was driven and intelligent. He interfered with everything, but in a positive and constructive way. Sometimes he had to be slowed down a bit in his enthusiasm. But fairly quickly, his then supervisor and his colleagues were convinced: we have to try to keep this one.

That worked. And what a great colleague we had in him. He kept his family life outside of work. Apart from a photo of you two, Tom and Anna, on his desk, we didn't get to see much of that.

That didn't mean he wasn't involved. Oh no. He kept track of everyone's birthday in his agenda. And woe betide you if you forgot someone.

As the organizer of the annual team day, he managed to secure a beautiful location, a good activity and, above all, delicious food every time.

In his work, he always put the citizen first. Even when he had not been working at the counter for a long time, he reminded us as colleagues that, even if we did not see the citizens, we worked for and on behalf of the people in our municipality. Angelo did not mince his words. And many an alderman has, I know, received critical emails from him.

A man with a conscience, who also wanted to be the conscience of the organization. A connecting factor, sometimes as a silent force and sometimes very outspoken. We will miss him dearly.

Discover even more examples of funeral speeches

For a simple manual full of inspiring examples use my free tutorial:

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You will receive clear and complete explanations about:

  • how to collect the information for your speech
  • which common thread you choose
  • what gives your story a strong structure.
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