Tim Cox was a very good pensions lawyer and a remarkable man. He lived for 53 of his 63 years with cancer. In the intervening 50 years , while he was under threat for his life he achieved a remarkable amount and earned the respect of all who knew him. I did not know him well but having been at the Mass for his soul , held at the Priory Church of Saint Bartholomew the Great, I feel I know him a great deal better. I am enriched for that.

The Requiem Eucharist in thanksgiving for Tim’s Life was a very moving occasion. There was no one eulogy but many, microphones were passed from friend to family to colleague so that we learned about the courage with which he phased the many cancers he was diagnosed with and the achievements of his life – which were many.

There was no space in the church, hymns were sung with gusto and we spoke the prayers together , whatever our creed or religion, we were led by a great organ and a fine choir and by a group of clergy who knew Tim.

This was a Requiem Mass, it focussed on death and asked us to consider it, as Tim and Catherine his wife considered it. I was pleased to see her smile at the end of the service, her marriage to Tim must have been inspirational to those who knew them both.

The event was so beautifully arranged that at no point did it lag, I found myself after two hours, as if that time had never been. My memories fix on a few moments that brought dry tears to my eye, the tale of Mary Magdalene in the Garden, seeking her Lord, only to find him when he uttered the word “Mary”, the sight of Tim’s red hat perched on his basket coffin, the singing of  Faure’s “In Paradisium”.

Thank you to all who made this Requiem what it was and thank you most of all to the various families who allowed me and many others, to share in this act of thanksgiving for a life well lived and a death , long-contemplated. “In Paradisium”, I hope that Tim will find the opportunities he foresaw and that he can live for ever without bodily pain.