Eulogy for Timothy Coburn

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, on Monday February 12, 2024 a great force for good was laid to rest. The outpouring of love, admiration, and respect for Timothy Coburn was a fitting remembrance for a man whose life was dedicated to doing for others. He is a legend in his hometown of East Hanford and Mayberry Village, the federal housing project we grew up in. I include in the Record a eulogy that only touches the surface of this veteran and great American who never forgot his beginnings.

Thank you, Father Mark, on behalf of Susan, Gabrielle, Maryann & Katie.

The outpouring of love, respect, and admiration for a man, who used all of his vast skills to take care of others, so many of whom are gathered in this room, who have been beneficiaries of his benevolence.

Gabrielle and Susan, the obituary was excellent, from that handsome smiling Irish face to the content of thc obituary and the enduring message about helping others, with a simple yet poignant request: be kind to someone, even a stranger. It makes a difference. So many gathered here and beyond can attest to that. That was Tim Coburn! That was his request. Sister Christine-Marie and the Sisters of Notre-Dame are bursting with pride about the virtue of the man from Mayberry Village they taught.

It all starts at home, and home will always be 76 Great Hill Road in Mayberry Village. Ruth and John's favorite son, Maryann & Katie's favorite brother, Susan's devoted love and husband, and Gabrelle's loving and caring father.

Ruth and John deserve special acknowledgement. Mrs. Coburn carted us all around the town to sporting events and brought us treats when we were sleeping out in the backyard, as we scrambled to hide the Playboys we were reading. We mostly walked to Martin Park which was an upgrade from swimming at BAB and the Hock. Mr. Coburn, with his shirt off in the summer, looked like Tarzan, and he had that intimidating look. You knew that you don't mess with John Coburn.

Athleticism was engrained in Tim, and his father always had Track and Field apparatus from the shotput, discus, hammer throw, and high jump bars. In fact, Frank Coburn, Tim's grandfather, was a star in his own right and a member of the New York Athletic Club, who nearly went to the Olympics, so being an athlete was in his genes.

Talking with Carl Lepack, Gary and Jimmy Agnew, Kevin Brown, and Dave Ryan, they all acknowledged Tim was the most gifted athlete in our class. Lettering in football, basketball, and track and being the captain of the track team. He was also a great golfer, tennis player, and if we had a pool in 1967, he would be a champion swimmer as well. Above all, he was a competitor, he thrived on competition. We were 5th and 6th grade basketball champions at Mayberry school, we reminisced last September about the 98-yard touchdown pass, he caught that beat Sunset Ridge with no time left on the clock. We were still playing football in our late 20s for Mad Murphy's, and all the extracurricular activities that involved. He competed at a high level in every sport he played, but in track, like his grandfather, he excelled and still holds the high school pole vault record, back when the poles were still wooden and not fiberglass. But in sports as in life, the thing about Tim is what mattered to him was the camaraderie and how teamwork and teammates matter and become friends for life.

I went to school with Tim at the little red schoolhouse, Sunset Ridge, Mayberry School, Saint Rose's, East Hartford High School, and Central before he transferred and graduated from UConn. There was a gang of us that hung together, and Tim was the ringleader, always up for the next adventure and next exploration. It was Tim, Carl Lepack, Rick Hurteau, Roger O'Sullivan, Max McGrath, Nunzio Parente, Billy Beven, Ronnie Boyer, and my brothers Dan and Chris. Whether it was cruising the Hock in cement tubs, or swimming at BAB, hiking up what is now Wickham Park--what was then Wickham Estates-- playing every sport imaginable.

It was on the Hockanum that we got pulled over by the East Hartford police that chastised us for being in cement tubs, scolding us about how dangerous it was. They took our names and addresses and said they were going to talk to our parents. By the time I got home, the officers already visited my mother and admonish me and said, ``Wait until your father gets home!'' I ran up to Tim's house to see if they had come there as well, as we had papers to deliver. Tim said no as they haven't been to his house, though they had driven by it. So we stood at distance at his house, and we wondered why they didn't stop and the reason was because Tim had taken the 6 of 76 and flipped it around to make it an 9. But he said since I was going to face brutal punishment with my father coming home, he would take me to Bergren's Dairy to get a hot fudge sundae before I went home to face my father. But to my amazement, when I got home, divine intervention happened, Father Munich was doing the census and consoled my mother that were the boys like Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in Huck Finn. So, when I went up and told Tim Coburn that Father Munich had saved my life and called us Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, Tim told me ``You owe me a hot fudge sundae.''

Tim lived a life of helping others, he practiced his faith and that carried over to his professional life. Healthcare remains an extraordinarily challenging job, especially caring for the elderly and disabled, and it's why this man of compassion and commitment was so exceptional. He rose to become the Executive Vice President of Medi-Plex and was respected by everyone he worked with--in management, by the employee's he worked with, and most importantly the patients he served. When he left Medi-Plex, he went on to be the person, the state of Connecticut, turned to, to help distress facilities and became the leading administrator in the state who had both, the experience and the credibility to save homes from going out of business and provide people with care. Tim, of course, credited the people he worked with, but this was a guy that led by example. No task was beneath him and time and again, he demonstrated to employees and patients what leadership and caring are all about. Jim Malloy and Brian Dickstein, underscored that professionalism and why he was so successful and why the state relied on Tim. He lived a life of helping other, and in doing so, he practiced his faith.

Tim was authentic and genuine, not a phony bone in his body. Dependable, Tim was always there for everyone, especially Gabrielle and Susan, he had wanted and hoped to make it to Valentine's Day, which is Gabreille's birthday. There's an old Irish saying ``Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us every day, unseen, unheard, but always near. Still loved, still missed, and very dear. Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory that no one can steal.'' There is a great void in our lives, a great force of good is gone. During his life and with his passing, he showed us what courage and humility are, and that the most precious thing we have is time, and the greatest thing in life is not the things we possess but the time we have with each other.

So, as we leave here today and raise a glass in tribute to Tim, let's honor his request--be kind to someone, even a stranger, it makes a difference. Tim, thank you for being a difference maker in our lives.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source