Prompt details

Tested on

Claude Opus 5.5

Length

557 words · 4 fill-ins

Example input

[About the person]: Margaret "Peg" Halloran, my grandmother. She was 87. Grew up on a dairy farm outside Millbrook and lived in Millbrook her whole adult life. Worked 30 years as a cook in the Lincoln Elementary School cafeteria and retired at 62. Married my grandpa Tom for 52 years; he died 9 years ago. Four children: Ann (my mom), Michael, Teresa and Joe. 11 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Her sister Helen is still living. Catholic, at St. Brendan's every Sunday. She died peacefully at home this week.

[Stories and memories]: - Every kid at Lincoln knew her. On the last day of school she made cinnamon rolls for all 400 kids, every year, from her own recipe. Grown-ups still stop my mom in the grocery store to talk about those rolls. - She said "Eat something, you look tired" to everyone, including the mailman and the priest. - Her garden: tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, far too many. Every August she left bags of tomatoes on the neighbors' porches with no note. Everyone knew it was her. - She raised four kids while working. When Grandpa worked nights at the plant, she did homework with all four at the kitchen table at once. - When I was 9 I broke her favorite blue bowl and hid the pieces in the garden. She found them when she was planting and kept one piece on the windowsill. She never got mad; she called it "the bowl's retirement." That piece is still on the windowsill. - She taught me pie crust: "Cold hands, cold butter, don't fuss with it." - Last spring she was still in the garden, sitting on an upturned bucket, telling me where to plant.

[Service and obituary details]: Visitation Friday 4 to 7 pm at Corrigan Funeral Home on Main Street. Funeral Mass Saturday 10 am at St. Brendan's Church, burial after at St. Brendan's Cemetery next to Grandpa. Instead of flowers, the family asks for gifts to the Lincoln Elementary lunch fund, which pays off students' lunch debt. I don't know her exact date of birth yet; my mom will tell me.

[Who you are and how long you will speak]: I'm her granddaughter Katie, 31, the oldest grandchild. I'll speak for about 5 minutes at the funeral Mass, after the readings. Warm and a little funny; she would hate anything too sad. My uncle Joe will stand next to me in case I can't finish.

Example output

I'm so sorry about your grandmother. Peg sounds like someone a whole town will miss.

Eulogy

About 580 words · about 5 minutes at 120 words a minute

Good morning. I'm Katie, Peg's granddaughter. Her oldest grandchild.

My Uncle Joe is up here with me, in case I need him.

I'm going to try to keep this light. She would hate it if we were too sad.

If you spent more than five minutes with my grandma, she probably told you to eat something. "Eat something, you look tired." She said it to all of us. She said it to the mailman. She said it to the priest.

So if you look tired today, and I think we all do, she would want you to eat something after this. Please don't let her down.

For thirty years, Grandma was a cook in the cafeteria at Lincoln Elementary. Every kid at Lincoln knew her.

And on the last day of school, every single year, she made cinnamon rolls. For all 400 kids. From her own recipe.

Grown-ups still stop my mom in the grocery store to talk about those rolls. Grown-ups. About cinnamon rolls they ate as kids.

That was Grandma. Feeding people was how she loved them. She retired at 62, but I don't think she ever stopped.

That's why, instead of flowers, our family is asking for gifts to the Lincoln Elementary lunch fund. It pays off students' lunch debt. I think she'd like that.

She fed the neighbors, too. Her garden had tomatoes, green beans and zucchini. Far too many. Every August, she left bags of tomatoes on the neighbors' porches. No note. Everyone knew it was her.

She never signed them. She didn't need to.

She raised four kids while she worked. When Grandpa worked nights at the plant, she did homework with all four of them at the kitchen table, at once. Ann, Michael, Teresa and Joe. Four kids, four sets of homework, one kitchen table.

I still don't know how she did it.

When I was nine, I broke her favorite blue bowl. And I hid the pieces in the garden. I thought I'd gotten away with it.

Of course, she found them. She was planting.

She never got mad. She kept one piece and put it on her windowsill. She called it "the bowl's retirement."

That piece is still on the windowsill.

Claude Opus 5.5

Write a Eulogy – Eulogy and obituary prompt for ChatGPT and Claude

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Claude Opus 5.5

This prompt helps you write a eulogy and an obituary from your own memories. Paste who they were, your stories and the service details; you get a eulogy to read aloud, an obituary, a program version and reading notes.

What you get

A eulogy sized to your minutes, built on two or three of your own memories
A newspaper obituary in the usual order, with placeholders for what you have not confirmed
A short version for the printed program, and reading notes for the day
Gentle questions first if your memories are thin, and a checklist of facts to confirm

How to use it

1
Write down what you remember
Rough notes are fine: their sayings, habits and three or four small stories, plus the service details you know so far.
2
Read the eulogy aloud once
Time it, and change any word you would not say about them yourself.
3
Confirm before printing
Go through the checklist with family: every name, date and placeholder in the obituary.

Better results

Text siblings or close friends and ask each for one memory, then add them to your notes with their names. A eulogy with several people's details sounds fuller.
Print the eulogy in large type with wide spacing, and give a copy to your backup reader before the service.
If it runs long, ask it to cut to your time and name the one story it must keep.

Questions

Can ChatGPT write a eulogy?

Yes. ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can write a eulogy when you give them real memories, sayings and family details. Without them they write something that could be about anyone. Read it aloud before the service and change any line you would not say yourself.

Is it okay to use AI to write a eulogy?

Yes. Many people use AI to organise memories when grief makes it hard to start. The memories and the words that matter come from you; the AI gives them an order and a length. Read it through and make it yours before the service.

How long should a eulogy be?

Most eulogies run 3 to 5 minutes, roughly 350 to 600 words read slowly. Ask the funeral director or officiant how long you have, especially if several people are speaking. This prompt fits the eulogy to the minutes you give it.

What is the difference between a eulogy and an obituary?

A eulogy is a personal speech given at the service, built on stories. An obituary is a written notice in the third person with the facts: dates, family, service details and where to send gifts. This prompt writes both from the same notes.

Updated 8 Nov 2026