Eulogy for a coworker

Speaking at the funeral of a colleague is a different assignment than speaking at the funeral of a family member. The room contains people who never saw the work side of him, and people who only saw the work side. Your job is to bridge them. Keep it short, specific, and warm. The broader frame is in how to write a eulogy.

Keep it to four minutes

A workplace eulogy should be shorter than a family eulogy. Three or four minutes is the right shape. The family will speak about the home; you are bringing the office into the room, briefly and with care.

One example opening

For the family in this room, I want to give you a glimpse of the David we knew at work. We sat fifteen feet apart for nine years. I want to tell you three small things you would not otherwise know.

What to include about a coworker

• How long you worked together, and what you did
• One specific moment that shows who he was on the job
• The way he treated junior people, or people in trouble
• What the team will miss the most, in concrete terms
• A short, sincere address to the family

Tone notes

Avoid inside jokes the family will not get. Avoid acronyms. Use his first name, not his title. Skip the LinkedIn summary. The room already knows he had a job. They want to know what it was like to share a coffee with him at 7:45 in the morning.

Closing

End the way you would end a card to the family. We will miss him every day. Thank you for sharing him with us. That is the right note.

If you also need to write a card, our piece on sympathy card wording has ten example wordings. For the day, see how to read a eulogy without crying.

When you are ready, Stillwith helps you draft yours.