Hi family,
I got behind on my blogging an enjoyed reading your messages and catching up. I've got to share with you the experiences my cousins and I had going to Tim's funeral in Florida. It was a happening. First of all, it was wonderful to have 11 cousins there together, most of us in the same hotel, to support Tom and Sandy and represent Tim's family. I'm truly sorry my aunt Connie and uncle Fran weren't there (well, who knows, maybe they were). They would have been so proud of what he'd done with his life (in spite of their horror when he told them he was dropping out of college to be a clown. He did, by the way, graduate just a few years ago, as a tribute to them).
The Felding family (own the circus) were very good to us and to Tim. They hosted a huge memorial service in a beautiful hotel on Sunday afternoon and sent a van for us to attend all the functions, even our own little ward/family funeral. I would guess there were about 600 people there. There were huge blown up pictures of Tim at various stages of his career and life all around the hall, lots of flowers, a very nice bouffet, and a program that included tributes to Tim from people all over the world---lives he'd touched. A group of young female acrobatic dancers from Mongolia he'd brought over here and "fathered" were especially distrought over his death. Funny stories about his adventures getting the "blood sweating hippo of the Nile" transported to America. Tim was truly a hero to his circus family and will be hard to replace. It was interesting to meet so many circus people (clowns, ringmasters, animal trainers, in ordinary clothes and looking like regular people).
Monday we had his funeral at the church he attended and it was decided by Tom, who was making up the programs, that since we had so many cousins attending and most could sing fairly well we'd have a cousins' chorus. Lindy came (Lindy had served a mission in Sweden at the same time as Tim and knows Swedish) so we had him and cousin Steve in the middle of all the females who hummed while he sang "Let the Lower Lights Be Burning" in Swedish. One of Tim's favorites. WE also sang another favorite of his, Love at Home in four part harmony. We were told it was beautiful.
He was buried in Venice, Florida, the homebase of the circus, in a spot next to his good friend Gunther Gable-Williams, probably the most famous lion tamer in history.
It was comforting to know Tim remained valiant and active in the church and was serving as the executive secretary of his ward and attending the temple regularly, doing family names he and Tom researched together. He was a good man, brought a lot of color and excitment to our family and we'll miss him a lot.