Obituary Examples for a Farmer

A farmer's life is written in weather, seasons and the land they worked — and much of it is known only to the family who worked it beside them. These examples are shaped the way a spouse or children actually remember a farmer: by the animals known by name, the droughts survived, the mornings that started before the sun. Choose the wording that fits, then replace our details with your own.

Short and dignified

Petrus Johannes 'Piet' van der Merwe, 79, of Reitz in the Free State, died on his farm, Rietfontein, on 10 July 2026, with his wife of fifty-four years, Marta, beside him. Piet was born on the farm in 1947 and farmed the same maize lands his father had ploughed, rising at four every morning and checking the rain gauge before he drank his coffee. He weathered the droughts of 1983 and 1992 without selling a single hectare. He is survived by Marta; his sons, Kobus and Danie; his daughter, Hannelie; and eleven grandchildren. A service will be held at the NG Kerk, Reitz, on Saturday 18 July at 10:00.

Personal and warm

Nontombi Gladys Faku — everyone called her MaFaku — died at home in Bizana on 15 July 2026, aged 71, in the house her cattle had built. After she was widowed in 1998 she took over the fields herself, and for twenty-eight years she planted maize, madumbes and spinach on the slope behind the house, sending the children off to school and the surplus to the Wednesday market in town. She kept nine cows and knew each one's temper; the brown one, Nomvula, would only be milked if MaFaku sang to her first. She fed anyone who arrived hungry and turned no funeral away without a plate. She is survived by her children, Thabo, Zanele and Sindiswa; her brother, Mzwandile; and fourteen grandchildren. The community will gather at her homestead from Friday evening.

Faith-centred

Charles Frederick Pringle of Bedford in the Eastern Cape died on 8 July 2026, at the age of 83, secure in the faith that had ordered his days and grateful to the last for his family, his sheep and his God. Charlie ran merino sheep on Glen Lynden for six decades and read the same worn Bible at the kitchen table before dawn each day, marking the psalms with strands of wool. He believed a man should leave the veld better than he found it, and he planted a tree for every grandchild born. He is survived by his wife, Eleanor; his sons, Robert and James; his daughter, Kate; and nine grandchildren, whose nine trees now shade the homestead. The funeral will be held at the Bedford Methodist Church on Saturday 18 July at 11:00, in thanksgiving for a long life faithfully lived.

Writing tips for a farmer's obituary

Name the farm and what it grew. 'Sixty years of merino sheep on Glen Lynden' places a whole life in a single line — for a farming family, the land is half the story.
Reach for the daily ritual. The rain gauge checked before coffee, the four o'clock start, the Bible read at the kitchen table — a farmer's character shows in what he did every single morning, in every kind of weather.
Give the animals and the lands their names. 'The brown cow, Nomvula' or 'the maize lands his father ploughed' turns a general life into this one particular life, worked in this one particular place.
Name the hard years honestly. The droughts survived, the stock lost, the seasons that failed — for most farmers, weathering the lean years is the proudest and truest part of the story.

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Common questions

Should I mention the name of the farm?+

Yes — for most farming families the farm is almost part of the family. Naming it, and saying how long it was worked or how it came to be theirs, roots the obituary in a real place and gives neighbours and farmworkers a shared point of memory.

How do I include the farmworkers and the wider farming community?+

A line of acknowledgement is fitting and usually deeply meant: 'the family thanks the men and women of Rietfontein, who farmed beside him for decades.' If particular workers were like family, you may name them, with their blessing.

My parent farmed all their life, but the times were often hard — should I say so?+

You can, and it usually strengthens the tribute. Farming is a life of drought, debt and uncertain seasons, and naming the hardships your loved one carried honours the courage it took to keep going. You need not dwell — one honest sentence about the lean years says more than any amount of praise.