1. HOME
›
2. Sample eulogies
›
3. Eulogy for a mother from a daughter

Eulogy for a mother from a daughter

Contributed by: Aimee, Denver, Colorado, USA | Deborah, Liverpool, UK |Anne-Marie, San Francisco, USA |Kristy Bell, Perth, Australia |Michelle Seraco, Kennsaw, Georgia, USA

Here are five short, sincere eulogies for mothers from their daughters. They've been contributed to help and inspire other women: daughters who also have a eulogy to write for their mother and want to see what others done before beginning on their own. 

As you read, imagine you are hearing their voices as if the writer was talking to you directly. Do that, and you'll feel the genuine, deep, appreciative love these daughters have for their mothers.

1. My Mother's eulogy - a short, strong, sincere speech full of admiration and love
2. Eulogy for my Mother, Muriel - a eulogy filled with touching personal stories to illustrate a life lived well
3. Eulogy for Mom from her daughter Anne-Marie - a beautiful short eulogy for an inspiring woman who battled with cancer for the last few years of her life.
4. Eulogy for her Mother from her daughter, Kristy - a short, very loving eulogy that has helped and inspired thousands of visitors since it's been online.
5. Michelle's eulogy for her Mother, Karen - a great example of how to write a respectful, honest and loving eulogy for a person who struggled with addictive issues.
    

A eulogy for my mother from her daughter, Aimee

Aimee, whose mother loved to talk and had an open-door policy for everyone in her neighborhood, has deliberately kept her eulogy short.

The deep respect, admiration and love she had for her, and how she lived her life comes shining through, loud and clear.

You'll see from the number of comments it's received from readers how helpful it's been for them.

Here is her speech.

My Mother's eulogy

I feel as though I could write a book regarding my mother’s life so I will do my best to make this brief.

My mother was a very sensitive and compassionate person. She loved her family, friends, colleagues, clients and students very deeply.

Sometimes she stuck her nose into things that were none of her business, but I know her motives were never malicious.

She had the gift of gab and somehow was able to have complete strangers share their life story with her within their very first conversations. She truly had a compassionate, open heart.

I remember the days when we lived on Locust and our whole neighborhood was like family. Mom had an open-door policy whether it was the neighbors walking in for sugar or eggs, or the neighborhood kids coming to her for advice and shelter.

She always loved the children – including her brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews and her grandchildren. And I believe as the oldest she felt the need to take care of everyone though it was not always her responsibility.

I don’t know how she managed to raise a family, return to college and receive a double major and double minor, still cook for us, and show up to all our activities. She exposed us to diverse experiences including sports, the arts, and a world of possibilities.

We were taught strong values and the importance of family, faith, hard work, kindness, tolerance, generosity, forgiveness and love. She was a strong woman, stubborn, gentle but direct and had an amazing sense of humor.

The last three or four years were hard for mom with the return of her breast cancer and the other illnesses she coped with. I know she is at peace now.

June 7th would have marked my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary and we know love and marriage is not always an easy commitment. I treasure all the wonderful loving memories and exchanges they shared.

We have lost many family members and friends over the years, especially in the last few, but I am comforted by the fact mom is in heaven sharing her gift of gab and continuing her legacy of sticking her nose in everyone’s business.

I hope and pray our generation can continue the passion and love of family you all have shared with us.

Eulogy for my mother Muriel

Deborah from Liverpool, UK, contributed this short eulogy for her mother filled with personal memories. She's called it: Muriel - The Morning Room. You'll understand why once you read it. 

Eulogy for Muriel - The Morning Room

Living a full life

But in our chat Mum said she felt really strongly that she didn’t want to be defined by that stack of medical records.

She said to me, “I’ve lived a full life. Next time I go in I want to take some pictures with me to show the nurses that I’ve really lived and what I’ve done over the past fifty years.”

So that’s what I’m going to help Mum show you – through some of my memories about her full life.

Sewing & making things in the morning room

When I think about family time with Mum I think about the Morning Room at home. This is where everything happened and where the sewing machine lived. Mum was brilliant at making things and the sewing machine was a big part of that.

I have to mention the Morning Room curtains. Growing up in the 70's they were regularly changing.

Mum would get a remnant of bright bold material from the market and quickly run up a new pair of curtains. Then after what seemed like just a few months later, she’d do the same again.

It was the same with clothes. Collette and I would show her fashion sketches in Jackie magazine and next day Mum would run up a trendy new gypsy skirt or dress for us on her sewing machine.

In the Morning Room we also made lots of ‘Blue Peter’* style things together - anything from fluffy gonks through to a toy made out of a margarine tub and cotton reels. Mum made family life fun, and she was very creative.

(*A British children's TV show and the longest running one in the world.)

Night classes, sugar craft and teaching

As a teenager I remember going to night school classes together. Mum did flower arranging while I was next door doing woodwork. She loved flowers and for many years she was one of the volunteers on the flower roster doing arrangements in this church, ably supported by Dad.

That brings me to the other thing that used to happen in the Morning Room, cake decorating.

Following the flower arranging classes Mum went on to take lessons in how to make sugar paste flowers. This led to her entering exhibitions with her classmates. Then her friends and family managed to persuade her to share her skills and teach sugar craft and cake making.

I was so proud when Mum did this especially when she told me stories of how she handled some of the cheeky young lads at catering school while teacher training.

I know she was chuffed to bits to be working and she made lots of good friends.

She was very talented in her craft and enjoyed making sugar flowers very much.

I remember the night before Collette and John’s wedding she stayed up all through the night making beautiful delicate sugar paste bluebells for their cake. I scolded her in the morning for not getting any sleep and she simply said, “I don’t care, I’ve enjoyed myself.”

So, I hope you will agree with Mum that she lived a very full life and enjoyed herself, and you will remember her that way, as she wanted you to.

Eulogy for Mom from her daughter Anne-Marie

Ann-Marie's beautiful eulogy for her mother Mary celebrates her life of selfless love and service. In it she shares her deep, heartfelt gratitude for being her daughter and tells us how her mother has shaped her life.

Eulogy for Mom

Gratitude for time spent together

I have tremendous gratitude for past five years because I was able to spend time with my mother since she was first diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. We were very open with one another - sharing our feelings; laughter, tears, and, some bickering here and there. The conversations and closure we were able to have were a gift. I will miss her forever.

Beauty, peace and tranquility in death

In my mother’s life there was hardship, but also huge blessings.

My mother's death, as is often the case, was similar to her life as a whole in this way. It was an invaluable experience to have been by her side, along with my family, through her final days and nights.

I am amazed when I recollect the bright, warm, large look in her hazel-colored eyes after she was told she did not have much time left.

You see, as my mother began to pass away, I thought maybe she didn't want to go. For, she was a fighter and her incredible tenacity had showed up in her strong will to live with this terrible disease these last five years.

Yet in her final moments the peace and tranquility that came over my mom’s face was breathtaking.

She was beautiful and as glorious as an angel as she smiled and transitioned out of this world and into the next. For sure she had agreed to pass on.  By the ecstatic look on her face I rest knowing mom was greeted by her loved ones who went before her.

Our tight bond despite our differences

My mother Mary was 32 when she gave birth to me. Younger than I am now.

Her own mother died while she was pregnant with me, and I imagine that tragedy must have played a role in our tight bond. I always felt close to my mother. But our relationship was a paradox.

On the surface the way we have lived our lives may seem contrary. However, in spite of traditional and generational differences, our core strengths and beliefs were so congruent; and it was the spirit with which my mother imparted her love that transcended all our differences.

My mother’s core motivating force was LOVE and it was her love that has had a profound impact on the essence of who I am. My mother lives on in my heart.

She gave me the foundation on which my whole life is built. A calling to live a life of service and to help make the world a better place. This is the greatest lesson my mother taught me; how to be caring, affectionate, forgiving, and empathetic towards others, especially those in need.

My mother exemplified service, be it to the elders she visited weekly for years in the nursing home, caring for my beloved Aunt Nonie, or her persistent efforts to meet the needs of her own children and grandchildren. I will always feel love and gratitude for the warm gifts she so beautifully embodied.

My mother, Mary, was a force for spreading good in the world, and her legacy - this compelling force of good continues in the many of us here, whose lives she touched.

Eulogy for a mother from her daughter

Kristy Bell's short, very loving eulogy for her mother has helped and inspired thousands of visitors since it's been online. Many of them have taken the time to say thank you. You'll find those comments below the eulogy.

A daughter's loss of her mother

When we were growing up my mother made sure my siblings and I were always taken care of. She would sacrifice her own happiness for ours.

When we were younger, we didn’t understand that, but she was just that type of giving person. As we grew up, we begin to realize Mum was one of the good ones.

She always said you had to be nice to everyone even if they weren’t nice to you, because you didn’t know what might be going on in their lives.

I could never understand how she could be so compassionate to people who were not nice to her. That was just the way Mum was. She cared more for everyone else than she did for herself.

You can never get as much time with the ones you love as you think you are owed. We didn't know Mama's time with us was short, but we still enjoyed every second with her. She was just as sweet, supportive, and full of joy as always, right up to the end.

Mum was a light in my life as I am sure she was a light in all of yours. She would give anyone the shirt off her back and go out of her way to help a friend in need.

I remember one time when I was little Mum got a phone call late at night from a friend who lived on the other side of the street. She had fought with her husband and was really upset. Mum dressed us and went out in her nightgown with us to go and console her because Dad was working that night. She would always be there for her friends and family.

There are so many memories of my mother that come to mind so it would be next to impossible for me to pick a favorite.

When her time was growing short in those last few days, she spent time with each one of us telling us how much we had meant in her life. That will go in my memory bank as one of my favorite times with her. We were lucky to have such a great mother, and even luckier that we were able to spend so much time with her at the end of her life.

Mum is with us today in our hearts. Words can't express how much she meant to me and my family. I know she is watching us and is with us in spirit.

Let us remember Tina Anderson as the carefree and loving person she was and celebrate the life of a great woman as we honor her memory today.

Michelle's eulogy for her mother Karen

The last of our example eulogies for a mother from a daughter comes from Michelle Siraco. It's a wonderful example of how to speak honestly, with respect and love, about someone who struggled with drug addiction and won. 

My Mother's legacy

My mother was born in Canton, Ohio and was the second child born of the four girls. My grandparents, my mother and three aunts grew up for the most part in New Jersey. She attended Westfield Highschool.

The wild child has twins, and then one more

My mother was a wild child to say the least. When she fell pregnant at 21, she was living with our father in Mobile, Alabama and had no idea she was expecting twins until our birth. 

My mother did not receive timely prenatal care until she was asked by my grandparents to return to New Jersey so they could help with the baby, and she could go to college. In her final few months of pregnancy she took their advice and moved back.

On July 18, 1980, my mother gave birth to not ONE girl, but TWO! I remember my mom saying she immediately thought, "Dear God, please take one away. Not two babies!"

I know she was only joking and just scared at that moment!

My mother had plenty of help raising my sister and I from her three sisters and her parents throughout our childhood.

My Mom and Dad welcomed a third child, my little brother Austin in 1992. We were 12 years old at the time. (long story) Although we wanted a sister not a brother, we were happy to welcome a sibling into our hectic lives.

Struggles with drug addiction

My mother unfortunately struggled with drug addiction since her early 20's. She was arrested multiple times serving different amounts of time in different jail facilities. She tried drug treatment programs, inpatient rehab, half-way housing, transitional housing, NA meetings and though she struggled with consistent sobriety, she was well known by family and friends as having a genuine heart.

She was very open about her struggles with addiction and recovery.

My mother was not always in my life but she always tried. I understood early on about the disease of addiction and was able to forgive her for her absence in my early childhood years.

I thanked her for the past 7-8 years reminding her that she has been present for me both as a mother and a wonderful GiGi to her grandchildren.

My Mother's qualities

My mother taught me the importance of family, faith, hard work, kindness, forgiveness and love. She was a strong willed woman, stubborn and gentle with a great sense of humor.

She was caring, affectionate, forgiving and empathetic towards others, especially for those in need. She worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse for a few years and was a natural caregiver.

She loved her family and friends deeply and was known for her "gift of gab" and somehow being able to have complete strangers share their life story with her within their very first conversations. She truly had a compassionate heart.

Gratitude, closure and guardian angels

I have tremendous gratitude for that the past year I was able to spend time with her since she was diagnosed with Stage V Small Cell Lung Cancer. We were very open with one another- sharing our feelings, laughing, crying and arguing here and there. The conversations and closure we were able to have is a gift.

She was a true fighter and her incredible tenacity showed up in her strong will to live with this terrible disease.  She fought so hard she lived a whole year despite the original prognosis of 4-6 months with treatment.

She didn't want to die. She wanted to live but accepted death as a part of life.

In her final moments the peace and tranquility that came over my mom's face was breathtaking. She wanted to know her children were going to be ok. I reassured her multiple times as she began to slip away that it was ok to go.

My mother believed in the angels, in heaven and the life we will be granted after death. Her beautiful soul is finally reunited with her mother whose death she struggled with over the past eight years and the loved ones who went before her.

As hard as it is accepting the fact that she is no longer here, I am at peace with her being my guardian angel. She promised to make her spirit present in my life and her legacy will live on through all of the lives she touched.