Memorial Honorifics and Verbs
The vocabulary of reverence — for obituaries, tributes, eulogies, and family histories.
When to use this bank
Reach for these words when writing memorial biographies, obituaries, or tributes. The rule is restraint: a memorial biography that uses one or two of these well is more moving than one that uses many.
When not to use it
Avoid clichés that have been worn smooth by overuse ('lost his battle with', 'gone too soon'). Avoid metaphors of journey, sleep, or angels unless the family has explicitly requested that register.
The vocabulary
Organized into 6 groups. Each group has its own guidance.
Verbs of life
20 wordsVerbs that describe what the person did with their time. Specific and active.
Verbs of departure
11 wordsVerbs that name the death. Choose the register that matches the family and the publication.
Honorifics and titles
21 wordsTitles and descriptors that signal the standing of the person within their community.
Relationship descriptors
25 wordsFor 'survived by' lines and family acknowledgements.
Closing constructions
12 wordsPhrases that close a memorial biography with dignity.
Phrases to avoid
10 wordsCliché phrasing that subtracts dignity. Cut these.
Where these words pair well
Lead with full name, dates, place. Use one 'Verbs of departure' phrase calibrated to family religion and publication. Use 'Verbs of life' to fill the body.
Use restrained 'Honorifics' once, not in every line. 'Beloved father of three' is stronger than 'beloved father of three beloved children'.
Use full names of relationships in 'survived by' for the historical record — future descendants will want to know who Aunt Mae was.
Before and after
What this bank looks like applied to a single sentence.
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of John Smith, who lost his courageous battle with cancer and is now in a better place, having earned his angel wings on October 14.
John Smith of Bristol, Vermont, died at home on October 14, 2024, surrounded by family. He was sixty-eight. John lived in Bristol for forty-one years, worked as the town's water and sewer commissioner from 1989 until his retirement in 2017, and is survived by his wife Marian and their three children.