Welcome to Funerals Cremation
Garden City Funeral Home Article
This is a selection made from among articles on Garden City Funeral Home. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for future reading, click here.
Funeral Planning - The Purpose of the Eulogy
from:Have you ever been to a funeral service and wondered who in the world the speaker was talking about in the eulogy? Perhaps you wondered if someone else was in the casket, because the speaker was not describing the person you knew. Or maybe the eulogy (or eulogies, if more than one person shared) was more about the speaker then the deceased. Or worse yet, the speaker had no clue who the deceased was, and just spoke about the person in generalities.
So, what is the purpose of the eulogy at a funeral or memorial service? Whether one or several give the eulogy, the end result should be the brief and honest telling of the life story of the deceased. This should include those special memories of events and the special ways the deceased was in life... things like character, interests, achievements, unique ways of saying things, and don't forget humor.
If the deceased brought laughter in their living, why not remember? Some think that it is wrong to share humor and laugh at a funeral. But, consider this... some people cannot or will not cry. Yet, they may be so full of emotion they are about to burst. Laughter can allow some of that emotional release. And of course, laughter can lift the spirit and help people remember more warmly.
These memories are the fabric of what grieving loved ones and friends can hold on to, and use to help them through the times of loneliness and loss. As they remember the good times and warm memories, they are comforted by knowing that the memories can never be taken away.
An earlier comment referred to the "honest telling" of the story. The eulogy is not the time to gloss over the persons flaws and weaknesses, and try to portray them as a saint... especially if they really were not. But, neither is it the time to hang out all the dirty laundry by telling how rotten the person was.
Remember, the eulogy should tell the story and give positive (yet honest) memories for the bereaved to hold on to. As the few and brief memories are shared, each listener will find their own special memories a well. No one is perfect. So, it is ok to admit that. But, almost everyone has some good qualities about him or her that can be shared. Those planning to share in presenting the eulogy, or memories, should find these qualities and share them.
A great way to summarize what a eulogy should communicate is in this statement about, let's say, Jill... "Jill may not have been perfect, but she was perfectly Jill."
Garden City Funeral Home News
Edward L. Clark - Garden City Telegram
He was born Aug. 15, 1925, in Tippecanoe, Ohio, to Warren P. and Clarice I. Logan Clark, and attended school in Tippecanoe. In 1944, Mr. Clark enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was stationed at Hutchinson Naval Air Station until his move to Wichita in ...
Read more...Cherry Hill man teaching police in Afghanistan - Philadelphia Inquirer
Whenever Gary Cundiff thought about retiring from the Cherry Hill Police Department, he imagined himself "sitting on a beach, drinking a cold beer." He never saw himself in the dusty central highlands of Afghanistan, teaching police work and light ...
Read more...Katherine Adams: The Interpreter - Birmingham News
Location Alabaster Alexander City Alpharetta Anniston Atlanta Bessemer Birmingham Brownsboro Calera Center Point Chelsea Collegeville Crestline Cullman Decatur Ensley Enterprise Fairfield Fairhope Florence Forest Park Fultondale Gadsden Gardendale ...
Read more...Ruth Bence Stephens - Alexander City Outlook
Funeral service for Ruth Bence Stephens, 90, of Daviston, will be Friday, October 10, 2008 at 11:00 am at Zion Hill Baptist Church. Rev. Jeff Freeman and Rev. Carl Kelly will officiate. Burial will follow in the Zion Hill Baptist Church Cemetery. The ...
Read more...Mary Kathryn Wolking - Cincinnati.com
COVINGTON - Mary “Kathy” Kathryn Gamm Wolking, 60, died Thursday, Oct. 9. She was office manager for the city of Hudson Parks Department, correspondent to Hudson Hub, Bridge & Beyond and Park Patter, author of “Joyful Hearts: Life Lessons ...
Read more...Circumstances behind teen's death remain a mystery to police, loved ... - Topeka Capitol-Journal
It wasn't like 18-year-old Alheli Alcantara not to come home at night. Certainly unlike her not to let family members know where she was going. So when Alcantara didn't return to her grandmother's home in Topeka's Highland Park area early Sunday ...
Read more...