Audience: associates in immediate department or larger group
Message: Thank you for your contributions to my life; I hope I’ve contributed to yours.
Tone: formal
Timing: 3 minutes

A long time ago, someone asked me: “Why are you hurrying through life? Are you trying to get to the end?” That statement, or admonition, has taken on much more meaning as the years have passed.

Over (number) years ago, I walked out of the college corridors ready to conquer the world. With all the arrogance and confidence that college graduates possess before life has taken them on for a few rounds. But as I’ve despaired in some economic hard times and have lived high in better times, I’ve come to appreciate the uncertainty of tomorrow,… and the happiness of the present.

I ran into some good advice about half way through my career, back during the time when I thought 14-hours days were normal,… when I thought all missed deadlines would doom me to career disaster,… when I thought paper could replace people…. James Burgh, the Scottish author, advised: “…It is necessary that you have a mind so composed by prudence, reason, and religion, that it may bear being looked into….”

In other words, he cautioned that I’d never enjoy retirement until I prepared for it.

So how does one prepare for it? Well, I’m not sure I’ve discovered that completely. But what the thought meant to me was to slow down and develop some other interests in my life. So I’ve done that. I decided that when they wrote the last chapter of my life, I didn’t want to be disappointed to find out it was only a short story. Or worse, a book in a narrow specialty market—business only.

So, to prepare, I’ve spent more time with my family on family outings and projects. I’ve spent more time with some hobbies I enjoy, even taking a course or two just for fun through the years. And finally, I’ve spent more time learning to care about those people around me—people like you.

And time will eventually tell if I’ve prepared well. But at the moment, I look forward to the years ahead to expand all the opportunities. I’m grateful for good health, a supportive family, and a free country to live in as I please.

I didn’t have to wait for retirement for the full pay-off, however. During my years here, each of you has shown me many facets of life and laughter. I’ve enjoyed our Monday morning quarterbacking,… our celebration luncheons and dinners,… and just our routine, everyday work together.

Working with people like you means someone cares when you triumph. It means someone cares when your son came in from a school event too late the night before. It means someone cares when an elderly parent is lying in a hospital bed across the country. It means simply sharing a cup of coffee on a cold, dreary Monday morning. You have contributed to my life, and I hope in some small way I’ve contributed to yours.

Thank you for the kind words today and for coming to celebrate with me. I will miss you.

Audience: employees, civic associates
Message: Each of you, in your own way, has contributed to our success.
Tone: informal
Timing: 3 minutes

We’ve finished…. The pressure’s off…. We’ve done an excellent job…. We’ve been successful…. So who gets the glory? I’m here tonight to say, not me. Not management. But you. Each of you.

So how did we motivate you to do such an excellent job? To pull off such a feat? We didn’t. You motivated yourselves. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. And each of you has contributed that little extra to make a big difference. They say that one of the greatest sources of energy is pride in what you’re doing. You displayed that extra—that energy, that pride, that commitment.

You can’t pay somebody enough for that.

(Name) rescheduled the vacation she’d been planning a full year in order to be here at the crucial decision time…. You can’t pay someone for that.

(Name) spent (number) weekends out of the last (number) at the office, redesigning plans that we found necessary to change for various phases of [insert details]…. You can’t pay someone for that.

(Name) dropped out of her night class at the university to devote the extra time it took to get her end of the project started…. You can’t pay someone for that.

People in the (name) department put in (number) hours of overtime during the last two weeks to complete the paperwork…. You can’t pay people for that.

(Name) spent days listening to completely unjustified, unreasonable demands from the public. She did it without losing her poise and her perspective…. You can’t pay someone enough for that.

(Name) postponed surgery to avoid being away from the office during their crucial phase of the project…. You just can’t pay someone enough for that.

So many of you have made similar sacrifices. You just can’t pay people enough for that. So what do you do? Well, first you hope these individuals, and others like them, gain an inner satisfaction from a job well done. You hope their coworkers recognize and value their sacrifices and dedication. You hope their families reaffirm their commitment to personal excellence. In short, you hope other people recognize the qualities that make them unique.

Yes, as a management team, we hope that, in some small way, each of you, who has shown such commitment to your job, feels pride in our joint success and in your individual contributions. As British educator and social commentator John Ruskin so aptly observed, “The highest reward for a man’s toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it.”

But you can’t pay someone enough for that kind of attitude, for that kind of hard work, for personal sacrifice of time and emotional energy. We can only say a small “thank you” and hope each of you understands the gratitude we feel. Thank each of you.

Audience: business or civic group, family members
Message: The deceased’s personal qualities contributed to our lives.
Tone: formal
Timing: 2 minutes

(Names of family members present), friends, business associates….

When we here at the office heard of (name)’s death, we were shocked and saddened. We stopped. We stopped our problem-solving,… our concerns for the work getting done,… our push toward all deadlines. Infinitely more important than such routine matters is dealing with the loss of one who had become almost like a family member to us at work.

Mrs. (name) and children, let me try to tell you what we knew of your husband and father in his dealings with us, his work friends. First of all, (name) was a brilliant businessman. People from all over the country—the competition, state agencies, trade associations, our branch offices—have both written and called our offices to express condolences.

Your husband and father was not only a brilliant businessman; he was a good listener. Many of us remember hours sitting in (name’s) office, asking his advice on work and personal matters. Things big and small. Like where to invest money as well as where to attend church. He listened to our concerns and offered advice freely.

Your husband and father was honest. He never stole a trade secret, equipment, or productive time from the organization. No debtor ever called our offices to seek repayment. His word was his bond. We didn’t have to ask for a confirming memo or letter on decisions (name) made. When he told us something, we could believe him.

Your husband and father was compassionate. He came to our homes in time of death in our families. He visited and sent flowers and notes to our hospital beds and those of our families. He contributed his money to worthy causes.

In fact, I’m often reminded of the time (name) had just returned from a three-week tour of our Japanese plants. When he arrived at the office suffering jet lag and learned of my own mother’s death, he climbed back on a plane and flew across the country to express to me his availability to cover my work assignments, his assurances that I would still have a job two months later after I settled lengthy estate matters, and his personal support and advice on family concerns. Then he traveled all night to a New York meeting the following day, ever mindful that his work associates were continuing to count on him there. I never knew (name) to refuse compassion to anyone in a time of need.

Your husband and father was loyal. He never told us, his employees, one thing and our colleagues and bosses something else. When we were right, he stood up for us. When we were wrong, he helped us see the other side—often to our benefit.

Your husband and father had a great sense of humor. He shared the latest Aggie jokes with us. He saw the light side of every situation. And he kept reminding us in our times of desperation with deadlines that it was, after all, just a job.

I’m sure you, more than we at work, know this side of (name)—his brilliance, his listening attitude, his honesty, his compassion, his loyalty, his humor. A reputation for only a few of these virtues is in itself a good fortune for his family.

But I wanted this group gathered together in his memory to know that we, his friends at the office, also knew him as more than a dedicated professional. We loved a genuinely warm individual—one we will miss greatly.

Simply remember that for all these virtues, (name) has not gone unrewarded by his sudden death. Death is, after all, only the side of life that we can’t see from earth’s shores. Who knows what God has in store for His child. We ask God’s comfort on you, his family, in your time of sorrow.