Audience: general
Message: Let’s remember so that others don’t have to die.
Tone: respectful
Timing: 2 minutes

Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests.

Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, John Logan, issued an order that made May 30, l868, a day for “decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country in the late rebellion.” He was speaking of the Civil War. But subsequently we have kept this Memorial Day to honor all those who have given their lives in all past wars.

Appropriately today, we honor those who have served the cause of freedom in the wars we remember more recently—World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam. And the undeclared wars and sometimes unrecognized wars and even accidents in maintaining our peace around the world. These heroes have given the ultimate sacrifice that many of us here today have never been asked to give.

All of us have been touched by the cruel necessities of war; some of us are numbed by the loss. A spouse, brother or sister, or friend. Perhaps some of you have suffered loss yourself in serving your country.

Particularly, we thank you men and women seated among us who have served on the battlefields alongside those fallen comrades.

In our own humble way, those of us who have not been called on to serve and sacrifice in such a way feel gratitude that cannot be overly expressed. The sacrifice of a few served to ensure our freedom of speech, trial, education, representation, travel, talent—even our very destiny.

Let’s never forget, nor let our children forget, the cost of war so they will never again have to pay the price for neglect or naiveté. We are gathered together today to say a heartfelt “thank you” to those of you in the audience who feel a personal loss from your own service or that of a loved one. We owe more than mere words can repay. Our lives have never been the same since you and your loved ones served. We again pledge to you—friends and families—that we will remember and celebrate that spirit. Thank you.

Audience: family, business and civic associates
Message: We acknowledge the sacrifice of this individual for the public’s welfare.
Tone: formal
Timing: 4-5 minutes

We are here today to honor officer (name), who gave his life for what he believed in—the law. (Name) was killed in the line of duty while investigating a drug operation in our city. Neither danger nor fear prevented him from carrying out his mission. His sacrifice reminds us all of the commitment made by all our law enforcement officers every day on their jobs.

Please reflect with me a few moments on the meaning of his sacrifice. His commitment.

First of all, his commitment involved being a role model for lawful conduct for all our citizenry. His personal life was above reproach where the law was concerned. How can one enforce a law that he or she does not respect in personal, daily life?

Second, (name)’s commitment involved moral courage. He knew well as a member of the police force that you can’t please everybody all the time. But he did not let public opinion—as it is expressed on various issues in the daily papers—deter him from upholding the law as it is written.

In split seconds, he had to make judgments about an individual’s rights as they balance against the safety of the public at large. Not easy decisions. One who makes them is not without thought or courage.

Third, (name)’s commitment meant service to the public. Your children go to school each day without fear for their lives. Your teenagers attend movie theaters and shopping malls without thought that they may be mugged on their way to and from. Your homes and your businesses do not need 24-hour guards around them when you leave for fear that your belongings will not be there when you return. Our nation’s highways are safe for your travel from state to state. Our museums are open for your pleasure as you browse to entertain or educate yourselves.

Oh, I’m not saying that our city is without drug peddlers who would devour our children, muggers who would attack our teens, or burglars who would steal our belongings.

I am saying that fear of such horrors is not ever-present in your minds. And it is the presence of our public servants and their commitment to your safety and well-being that gives you peace of mind about your loved ones and your possessions. And as we fill our streets and our hallways with more officers like (name), that peace of mind will be even more pervasive in our world.

Officer (name) committed himself as a role model for personal observance of the law, to moral courage in the face of opposition, and to the welfare of the public. He made his commitment knowing the risks involved in his job.

We applaud that commitment, the courage it exemplifies, and the safety it affords. Likewise, with respect we present this check for $(amount) to his family—his wife and children. This money, we hope, will make their life easier in the face of their loss.

Mrs. (name) and children, his memory and his sacrifice will not be forgotten.

Audience: family, business and civic associates
Message: This gift will support the causes for which they worked.
Tone: formal
Timing: 4-5 minutes

I consider it a pleasure to be here today representing (corporation) to help you move closer to that (city) memorial honoring the (group of people).

In a sense, we are too late. This recognition of their efforts in (cause) is long overdue. As they gave their lives in their attempts to rescue their fellowman, their decision was swift. Where there was suffering, they jumped in to alleviate it. We should be no less swift with our recognition of their sacrifice.

They have made a contribution to our community in more ways than their heroic efforts to save those victims of the tragic (act). Their contribution, you might say, was also in their attitude. Their decision to get involved, though a quick one, wasn’t necessarily a thoughtless one.

On the contrary, with thought and deliberation, these individuals made their decision to fight for another’s right to live. There was no regard for poverty or racial prejudice. There was no regard for station in life. There was no regard of personal gain.

Instead, their minds riveted on the desperation before them and the chance for survival of another human being.

Why did they do it? A Dutch woman, Miep Gies, risked her life daily for more than two years to shelter the Frank family during Hitler’s reign of terror. Why? What is it that drives some men and women to risk their lives for another? Social scientists can’t tell us—other than to say that these people long to see satisfying results. In other words, they care. And they want to reverse the bad situation.

With this memorial, we are acknowledging their caring and sacrifice and commending their courage.

You may wonder why (corporation) would be so vocal in support of this particular memorial. The answer is simple: We strongly believe that this is both the history and the future of America.

Let me explain. It has not always been so in America that such value was placed on the dignity of all human life. While our cultures and backgrounds have always been diverse, we as citizens have not always embraced each other in brotherly love. There have been lines of religion, race, and riches. But thanks to the efforts of people like Dr. Martin Luther King, sacrificial acts like this prove that we are indeed moving toward what King called “one America.”

That’s no small endeavor. These (number) individuals whom we are memorializing today have taken another step over that line into our future. They have sacrificed their lives so that others—young and old, rich and poor, Protestant and Jew—could carry the baton further.

We as a corporation are stepping forward to set the record straight. We value the lives of these victims. We honor the deaths of those who gave. We want that new America. We are thrilled to see this memorial planned.

Let me challenge other corporate citizens of our state and our nation to participate in celebrating such a value system wherever they see it displayed.

It is with pleasure and admiration that I present to you our check for $(amount) to construct the memorial that marks the spot where (number) individuals valued another’s life above their own.

Audience: family, employees and civic associates
Message: We remember her contributions to our corporation and to our personal lives.
Tone: formal
Timing: 3-4 minutes

Winston Churchill said it best: “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” As those of you gathered here today will agree, (name) made a life. Her sudden and tragic death grieved us, but it also focused our thinking on what is good and right about our spirit here at (corporation). I can’t think of a better example of that spirit than (name).

She didn’t just make a living here; she made a life. First, she offered her friendship. To those who worked around her most closely, she was known affectionately as “(nickname).” You could not attend a day-long meeting or seminar with (name) without her asking about your family, your vacation, or your health. Not routine were your answers, either, because as you talked to (name), you got the sense that she really listened to what you said,… that she really cared about your happiness and well-being.

And she valued each employee and client who passed through her door as an individual of worth, and she dealt with them all that way.

(Name) didn’t just make a living here; she made a life. She offered her integrity. Integrity is what you have when no one else is looking.

No detail was too small for her to handle. No risk was too minimal for her to give the pro’s and con’s full consideration. No financial decision was too large that honesty did not count.

(Name) didn’t just make a living here; she made a life. She offered her compassion. Many of you will remember her efforts in helping the community to rebuild after the (tragedy). She was also involved in our own annual charity efforts such as (names of campaigns). Pain and suffering pricked her heart, and she did more than bleed. She acted on behalf of those who needed her financial support and her personal energy in [insert details of the cause].

We honor her today by placing her photograph and a small plaque about her work here in our hallway. It’s our hope that those who pass by every day will be reminded of her contributions here at (corporation).

We also encourage you to emulate her commitment to make a life—not a living. To give rather than to receive.

Employment here is more than a paycheck. It is friendship, integrity, and compassion toward our fellowman. We honor (name) today and want her family to know that we share in their loss and respect their wife and mother’s contributions to our lives.

Audience: family, members of the community and the press
Message: We remember his leadership.
Tone: formal
Timing: 4-5 minutes, depending on the insertion of details about the upcoming artistic performances

A traveler met three stonecutters along a road and asked each what he was doing. The first man responded that he was cutting stone. The second said that he was shaping a cornerstone. But the third proudly smiled and said: “I’m building a cathedral.”

(Name) lived his life to build cathedrals. Whether it was the (name of project) or the (name of project), he always saw the big picture. It’s been said that a manager thinks about today and tomorrow. A leader thinks about the day after tomorrow. And to his credit, (name) was a man who thought about the future—in both his business and his civic roles—and could communicate that vision to others.

We have gathered here to rename this building in his honor. Although it’s not a cathedral, what goes on inside will change the lives of those who enter. Their horizons and their appreciation of the arts will bring them to a better understanding of life itself—our roots and man’s longings from earliest time.

This museum and performing arts theater will also bring new life to our present-day city.

Attention and commitment to the arts, such as this building represents, increase our city’s competitive edge as a destination for new industry, new businesses, and new families.

Such commitment to art isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. The image of a city is tied to its citizens’ and its neighbors’ perceptions of its leadership. (Name), whom we honor today, was the instigator of that image. Through his untiring efforts over the past few years, he led (number) local businesses to contribute $(amount) to see that this center was established.

But his efforts did not stop with construction. He also shared his vision of attracting some of the top artists in the country to perform here. By stimulating a partnership between the arts and the corporate community, he has fostered the image that our city is emerging as a cosmopolitan, international center.

Over the next year, we have scheduled these upcoming events in this center:

[Insert details of upcoming programs and events.]

We encourage you as corporations to purchase season tickets and make them available to your employees and clients as your further contribution to the city and to the arts.

What has been good for the city as a whole has also been good for the individual citizen. As a result of (name)’s leadership, we have a place for our children and our grandchildren to visit and to enrich their understanding of the world. To be specific, their understanding of themselves.

As a cathedral builder, (name) created that vision and communicated that vision. “Monuments are the grappling-irons that bind one generation to another,” said the French moralist Joseph Joubert. We are pleased to dedicate this building to (name)’s memory—to bind his efforts to this symbol of our appreciation of the arts.

Of a Business Facility

State the specifics of the occasion—where, when, why, how—this facility has been established.
Point out benefits of the facility to the workers and the community.

Call attention to the contributions of those who worked to make the facility ready.

Recognize the responsibility of those who will work there and express confidence in them and their future use of the facility.

Of a Memorial for a Deceased Employee or Civic Leader

Recall virtues or contributions of the one to be memorialized and lead the audience to an appreciation of that person’s values.

Call attention to any obstacles this person overcame and how remarkable the achievement or contribution was.

Mention the effects or significance of this person’s life.

Encourage the audience to emulate those virtues or qualities or to uphold those values and support those causes that the deceased considered important.

Upon Presentation of a Memorial Gift

Express appreciation for the contributions or values of the memorialized individual.

Mention the significance of this individual’s life to you or to the organization.

Present the gift as symbolic of your sentiment.

Audience: business or civic group
Message: Bless the family of this individual and the ongoing contributions of the deceased’s memory.
Tone: formal
Timing: 1 minute

Dear Lord, (name) has been Your faithful servant on earth for many years. She has served long and well. As we as friends and business associates have gathered to remember her contributions to our lives, we ask that You particularly be near her family.

Rather than lessen the pain of the loss of a loved one, the years seem only to heighten our appreciation of that great loss. Specifically, we ask Your guidance for her son and daughter as they settle matters of (name)’s concern. Those of us who know her children well know that their adult lives have already produced gain in the world. Much of that, we know, is a direct influence from their mother’s life.

And then as business associates, we realize that many of our successes on the job are a result of (name)’s direction, advice, and knowledge.

Together we are thankful for her contribution and example before us. Those of us who didn’t get an opportunity to express our appreciation to her directly ask particularly that Your spirit grant her that knowledge in the afterlife.

Even now, her compassion in word and deed continues to glow within us. As she has honored us with her life, we ask that You help us honor her and her family today.

Thank You for Your eternal provisions for us all.

Audience: business or civic group
Message: Bless the ongoing contributions of the deceased’s memory.
Tone: formal
Timing: 1 minute

Please bow your heads as we each in our own way remember (name). This memory, of course, Lord, will not be our last. We acknowledge Your right and power both to give life and to take it.

We accept Your will in our lives, even when it may bring us heartache and even when we may not understand the reasons.

We ask that You as an all-compassionate God help us to carry on (name)’s work that we have gathered here to commemorate. As we have talked about and remembered his contributions to the community, family, and friends, we ask that you inspire us to do our part in seeing his efforts come to a successful reality.

Particularly, we ask Your blessings on (name of favorite project) that he loved and worked with.

Help those individuals who benefited from his efforts there continue in their progress to regain hope and stability for their lives. Help those in leadership to bring others into the causes for which (name) worked so diligently.

We trust confidently that today (name)’s spirit is at rest with You, his Maker. And we thank You that his example and memory is still among us, his friends.