How to Write a Eulogy: Step-by-Step Guide for Kenyan Families

Knowing how to write a eulogy feels impossible when you are grieving. You have a few days, a family full of memories and a funeral committee waiting for the text. This guide walks you through it one step at a time, so the life story you write is accurate, warm and ready for the programme booklet.

What a eulogy is (and what it is not)

A eulogy is the life story of the person who has died, read at the funeral service and usually printed in the memorial booklet. It honours who they were: where they came from, the people they loved, the work they did and the faith they lived by.

It is not a list of every event, and it is not the place to settle family disagreements. Aim for a portrait that the people in the church will recognise and the grandchildren will treasure.

Step 1: Gather the facts first

Before you write a single paragraph, collect the details that must be right. Mistakes in names and dates are the most common reason booklets go back for corrections.

Full name, preferred name and any names they were known by
Date and place of birth, parents and siblings
Schools, colleges and qualifications
Work and career, with places and years
Marriage, children and grandchildren, with names spelled correctly
Church, fellowships and community roles
The date and circumstances of their passing, said simply

Our free Eulogy Data Template lists everything a committee needs to collect, so nothing is missed.

Step 2: Collect the stories

Facts give the eulogy its frame; stories give it life. Ask siblings, children, old friends and colleagues for one memory each. Good questions are:

What did they always say?
What were they proud of?
How did they help people around them?
What will you miss most?

Write the answers down word for word. A short, true story is worth more than a page of praise.

Step 3: Choose a simple structure

Most eulogies read best in time order:

Early life: birth, parents, childhood home and schooling
Adult life: work, marriage, family and the places they lived
Faith and service: church, community and the causes they cared about
Final years: illness or retirement, said with dignity
Legacy: what they leave behind and how the family will remember them

Keep paragraphs short. In a memorial booklet, short paragraphs sit well beside photographs and are easier to read aloud.

Step 4: Find the right tone

A eulogy can hold both sorrow and gratitude. It is fine to include a gentle, funny memory; mourners often remember the moment the church smiled together. Write as if you are speaking to the family, not to an audience. Plain words carry more feeling than formal ones.

If the family speaks more than one language, consider writing the eulogy in English with a Kiswahili or mother-tongue section, or printing the full text in two languages. Tell your designer early so the booklet has room for both.

Step 5: Keep it to the right length

For reading aloud, aim for about 5 to 7 minutes, which is roughly 600 to 900 words. The printed version in the booklet can be a little longer, but the life story usually fills two to four pages once photographs are added.

Step 6: Check every name and date

Ask two family members who were not involved in writing to read it slowly. They should check:

Spelling of every name, especially Kikuyu, Luo, Kamba and other names with several spellings
Dates and the order of events
That no child, grandchild or sibling has been left out

This one step saves hours of corrections later and avoids painful mistakes on the day.

Step 7: Read it aloud before the service

Practise reading the eulogy aloud at least twice. Mark places to pause and breathe. If you are worried you will not manage to read it, ask a relative or the officiating minister to stand with you or read part of it.

Turning the eulogy into a memorial booklet

Once the life story is ready, it becomes the heart of the memorial booklet, together with the funeral programme, tributes and photographs. A well-designed booklet lets the family share the story with everyone who could not attend, and keeps it for generations.

At The Hub Design Studio we lay out the eulogy, tributes and photos with care, check every name and date with you, and deliver a print-ready file and a digital copy to share. See our eulogy booklet packages or send us the burial date on WhatsApp and we will tell you honestly what timeline we can meet.