Eulogy for My Grandmother - Bertha

by Her Grandson Craig
(Kamloops, BC)

Hello. My name is Craig and I am Bertha’s grandson. I want to thank you all for coming. Your attendance here speaks volumes about the impact that this wonderful woman had on all of us.

Some of you knew her as Mom, Great Grandma, GG, and GG Bert or simply as Bertha. Some you may have even called her other names and I am thinking specifically of her children on this one. I am sure they called her many things over the years. To me and her 14 other grandchildren she was simply Grandma and to all of us, she was a pretty amazing lady.

To highlight this, I reached out to my cousins and asked them a pretty simple and straightforward question:

“What are the 3 words that you would use to describe Grandma?”

Their responses, while simple, begin to paint a detailed portrait of the woman we all knew and loved. I will read them out to you and highlight a few of them.

- Considerate
- Loving
- Selfless
- Nurturing
- Thoughtful
- Generosity
- Compassionate

Grandma was unbelievably compassionate. Her heart and her generosity knew no bounds. Her door was always open - literally. She rarely locked it. You could just walk in and people often did. Neighbors, friends, immediate family and relatives, cousins 6 times removed all knew they had a place to stay for a few minutes, a few hours or for a few days, to enjoy her hospitality and her generosity and - her infamous uh...coffee... The door was always open and the food was always plentiful.

Moreover, she donated much of her time to others. Knitting, crocheting, and working on her award winning liquid embroidery that she loved to do; the items she made and were often donated to organizations to support a charitable cause. She loved to give her time and her focus to others and was always willing to give just a little bit more. She was truly selfless.

I particularly remember that she always made sure to send us her notes of love. At every birthday, every Christmas and each Valentine’s Day, Grandma made sure we received a note of her love. It was something that we all looked forward to and got excited about. Especially those home made valentine cards!

- Fun
- Painting Rocks
- Games
- Cards

Grandma was fun! As children, we loved to go and visit her because we always had a good time. In fact, she was the epitome of fun.

She loved to play games and was a phenomenal card and game player. As children, then as teenagers, and then as adults we always looked forward to and enjoyed playing those games: Canasta, Yates, Horse Racing, 65, 5 of a Kind, Connect 4, Around the World, Kings in the Corner, and so many others.

Games were part of her life and many of those same games are now part of our lives. When the deck of cards, the bag of dice, the game board came out, or the call went out for a water fight, or a game of hide and seek, the outside world melted away. We became enthralled in the world of the game and in our grandmother who made it all possible.

The icing on this “Fun” cake were the candies that were always plentiful. There were scotch mints, peanuts, humbugs, chicken bones, ju jubs, and jelly beans. It was like entering our very own Willy Wonka Candy Factory. She was fun!

- Determined
- Strong
- Stubborn

Now some of you would say that Grandmas was strong. Other might refer to her as determined. Some may even go as far as “Stubborn”. But if you asked her, she would say, “I am not stubborn, I am Independent!”

And independent she was. If she had a viewpoint and a perspective on a given topic, nothing you could do or say would alter that. She would budge but only when she was good and ready, and on her terms.

Pushing a point with Grandma was like swimming against a very strong current. The harder you swam, the more she opened up the floodgates for you!

But in many respects she had to be independent. Raising her children after Grandpa Joe’s early passing forced her into a position where she had to fight for what she needed. And fight she did. She had to look out for the interests of her children. So we will give her a pass on this one. She was independent.

- Gregarious
- Creative
- Resourceful
- Inspirational
- Warmth
- Perfect

She was perfect. Perfect in every respect.

- Her laugh
- Her smile
- Her big kisses
- Her hugs

They were perfect and she was the perfect grandmother. And we are all a little closer to perfection to have had her in our lives.

I love you grandma. You will be missed.



With Craig's permission I've added the note he sent accompanying his lovely eulogy.

Susan,

My grandmother passed away at the beginning of June and I was asked to write her eulogy. I had no idea of where to start and so I reached out to the internet. I came across your site and found it extremely helpful in the tips and suggestions you provided, the examples of other people's eulogies I had access to, and in recognizing that the task I was going to undertake had been difficult for many others. The struggle I was having was near universal.

I was looking for the "right" way to write a eulogy and realized after reading through material on your site that there is no right, or one, way. It is up to me and what I wanted for my eulogy. What I wrote should reflect my own style.

As a thank you, I have submitted the eulogy I delivered in hope it might help others and give them the confidence they need to do this unbelievably difficult thing.

So thank you.
Regards,
Craig