The untimely death of the famous politician John F. Kennedy shook United States. It had also been the most celebrated funeral ceremony in history with famous people gathering together and the entire people of America mourning for his loss.
As one of the famous eulogy examples, you can use the JFK eulogy as a reference to write your own funeral speech. Senator Edward M. Kennedy gave one of the best speeches during the ceremony. He started his eulogy with a feeling of mourning and continued his speech by quoting great lines from famous speeches that his brother had delivered on his glorious years as a senator. Finally, he ended with some words his brother is known for: “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.”
Pericles’ funeral oration is yet another famous eulogy. It was a speech taken from the History of the Peloponnesian War and was delivered by a renowned man from Athens -Pericles. The said speech gained popularity because it lifted and glorified the nation of Athens amidst the presence of war during those times.
Pericles’ famous eulogy begin with acclaiming Athens’ traditional ceremony for the dead but as the speech progresses, he said “reputations of many brave should not be imperiled in the mouth of a single individual”. At the end of Pericles’ speech, he addressed the audience and encourages them to make the dead heroes of their nation a model and emulate their good deeds to heighten their standards of living. The survivors of their nation should continue the work that was left by the dead. He actually contrasted the custom of the Athens and giving funeral eulogies and thus making a shift on how funerals are done.
funeral program examples