Attending Funerals

Attending Funeral Services: Your Funeral Etiquette Questions Answered

The Day of the Funeral or Memorial Service Should you attend the funeral? Unless the obituary says it’s a private service, then you can assume the public is welcome, and you should go. Until you’ve lost a family member yourself, you won’t understand what a comfort it is to the family to see “a full church [and] the pews packed with people who also care for and remember the deceased. … The family knows that attending a funeral is inconvenient, and that’s why they’ll never forget that you came.” (from The Art of Manliness)


Seminole Indian Funeral Customs

Seminole Indian Funeral Service Rituals

When it comes to the funeral traditions of any religious, ethnic or geographical group, it is typical for specific customs to vary from family to family. The Florida Seminoles are no exception to this rule. However, experts on Seminole traditions still have much to say about the funeral customs that characterize their group. Seminole Indian Funeral Traditions



Atheist Funeral Service Rituals

Atheist funerals — usually quite similar to humanist funerals — are becoming more and more common. They are appropriate memorials to those who lived their lives without religious affiliation and reject the typically religious views associated with life and death.



Robert Ferguson’s Eulogy

“My father was 75 years old and he lived a very full life. He did everything that he set out to do. Where I come from, in the Celtic tradition it’s kind of a wake where we talk about the person’s life, there’s a lot of drinking usually, but of course I won’t be taking part in that. I think others may get involved in that for obvious reasons.


Mattie Stepanek’s Eulogy

When I was running for governor a number of years ago, my wife and I didn't have much money so we traveled around the state and we estimated later that we shook hands personally with 600,000 people. Later I ran for president, as some of you may remember, and campaigned in all 50 states. Subsequently, I traveled around the world. In fact, since I left the White House, my wife and I have been to more than 120 nations. And we have known kings and queens, and we've known presidents and prime ministers, but the most extraordinary person whom I have ever known in my life is Mattie Stepanek.


George Harrison’s Eulogy

When they told me they were going to induct my friend George Harrison into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame posthumously: my first thought was - I bet he won't show up. Because, unlike some others one might mention - but won't - he really wasn't in to honors. He was one of those odd people who believe that life is somehow more important than show business.


Father Mychal Judge’s Eulogy

On 9/11, the beloved New York priest was one of the first to die. After all that has been written about Father Mychal Judge in the newspapers, after all that has been spoken about him on television, the compliments, the accolades, the great tribute that was given to him last night at the Wake Service, I stand in front of you and honestly feel that the homilist at Mother Teresa’s funeral had it easier than I do. We Franciscans have very many traditions. You, who know us, know that some are odd, some are good. I don't know what category this one fills.


Edward (Ted) Kennedy’s Eulogy

Mrs. Kennedy, Kara, Edward, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, members of the Kennedy family, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: Today we say goodbye to the youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy. The world will long remember their son Edward as the heir to a weighty legacy; a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; and the lion of the U.S. Senate - a man whose name graces nearly one thousand laws, and who penned more than three hundred himself.


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