A celebration of Jim Cohen’s Life
Extracts from the service held at St Gregory’s Church,
Low whistle – Paddy Keenan: Mary
Bravender
Welcome address
Be still, for the presence of the Lord
Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the holy
One, is here;
come bow before him now with reverence and fear.
In Him no sin is found, we stand on holy ground.
Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the holy One, is here.
Be still, for the glory of the Lord is shining all around;
he burns with holy fire, with splendour he is crowned.
How awesome is the sight - our radiant King of light.
Be still, for the glory of the Lord is shining all around.
Be still, for the power of the Lord is moving in this place:
he comes to cleanse and heal, to minister his grace-
no work to hard for him, in faith receive from him.
Be still, for the power of the Lord is moving in this place.
David J. Evans
1 Corinthians 13: 1-13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Andy’s Gone with Cattle – sung
by Jim’s daughter Beth Cohen
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all
the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Address by Jim’s brother, Eric Cohen
O Lord my God, When
I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my
soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
And when I think,
that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
When Christ shall
come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"
words
& music by Carl G. Boberg and R.J. Hughes
Address by Jim’s colleague – Willem Baan
RAYMOND JAMES
COHEN -- fifty-eight years of age
It is a privilege and an honour to talk about my friend Jim Cohen
To us in the scientific community Jim was a colleague, a teacher, a
collaborator, and a friend. More importantly, Jim was a husband, he was a
father and he was a parishioner of St Gregory’s here at Bollington.
The shock of Jim’s passing is still reverberating in the astronomical
and spectrum management communities. Emails are still circumnavigating our
planet with reactions and expressions of grief and sorrow.
Let me first say something about Jim at Jodrell Bank and as part of the international astronomy community.
His research career started with his first paper in 1974 co-authored with Rod
Davies and Andrew Wilson. Since then there have been some 190 papers in a
variety of scientific and popular journals and publications.
Much of the research was done with students and in the course of his
career he made significant contributions to the study of neutral hydrogen in
high-velocity clouds, studies of molecular emissions in our Galaxy, and studies
of masers in our Galaxy and other galaxies.
Most recently he has been working on methanol masers.
For this research he initiated and was granted the funding to build a new
receiver and start a very ambitious methanol survey of the southern skies using
the Parkes telescope in
In March there will be a large maser
conference in
Jim was a much appreciated colleague
at Jodrell Bank. He was a walking encyclopedia on star-formation and many other
astronomical subjects. One colleague mentioned to me this week that Jim in his
quiet and peaceful manner played a much larger role in the success of Jodrell
than most people realise. He was not only a man full of ideas but also someone
who actually acted on them. Jim will leave a tremendous void at Jodrell in many
ways.
Another area where Jim will be remembered is in the international spectrum management community, where he
fought to reduce man-made radio interference for sensitive radio telescopes
like those at Jodrell Bank and other large instruments elsewhere in the world.
He served as the main liaison with the government’s Radiocommunications Agency
on national issues. He actively
participated in the decision-making processes not only in the
Spectrum management consists of numerous, lengthy (sometimes even four
weeks long), and often tense and controversial committee meetings attended by
government representatives, commercial users, and the scientific radio spectrum
users. .
With his open attitude, his sense of humour, and his quiet and stable
demeanour that we all recognize, Jim was a very effective participant whose
substantial input over a long period of time made him a leader in this group.
Special memories for me are the times of working together with him and John
Ponsonby to negotiate the agreement between the radio astronomers and the
Russian military generals about the GLONASS satellite system in 1993. Jim’s
work was of great import in solving the problems with GLONASS.
The colleagues from IUCAF and CRAF will miss his solid and consistent
stance and his friendship. By the way, the pub that serves as a meeting point
for astronomers when in
Jim as a Teacher & Leader
He has been the supervisor of 20 MSc students and 11
PhD students some of which are present here.
As a person and as a teacher Jim was
very gentle and approachable. One could hardly fail to notice how popular he
was among students when they choose their supervisors. One time he held a
barbeque to mark the fact of his having no less than six MSc and PhD students
simultaneously.
Jim was an effective and patient
teacher who played a prominent role in every aspect of every project in which
he was involved and made it a learning experience. He had the gift of teaching and ably
communicated his understanding to less experienced members of the group. This
was true not only at the telescope but also in the classroom.
One of his students recalled this week
that she would visit his office with some work problem, talking nineteen‑to‑the‑dozen.
While she was talking and talking, he would just sit there patiently. When she
finally stopped talking, he would usually ask a single, simple question that
would lead to the solution of the problem.
His students will remember his clarity
of mind, his patience and good humour. Another quote, “He was an invaluable
mentor. Jim’s contribution to my career and to my life was immense”
And Jim was an effective leader
inspiring confidence and respect. He was ever demonstrating diplomacy and tact.
Even
at the work place his colleagues witnessed that Jim was a family man.
A
student remembers:
“It was very clear how much Jim loved
his family. Apart from the pictures which took a place of pride on his desk, he
would always have a twinkle in his eye and a smile when he spoke about Pat and
the girls. At a certain time in the evening at work, he would sit in his office
with his feet up on the radiator, smiling and talking on the phone with his
home.
Then you knew to come back later with
your little problems!”
Whenever he was late at work or on a
trip to a spectrum meeting, we knew he first had to call home.
Jim would grin uncontrollably when he
mentioned that the lady who sold him the Bleak House flat had come back in
search of her cat? Fortunately Pat's cat kept on returning to base ‑‑
and Jim had to keep on returning the cat! This is a recorded case of a cat, the
matchmaker.
In all this he was driven by his appreciation of love and life and his
deep devotion as a Christian. In fact the Biblical scripture that describes
Jim’s character best is the command from Ephesians “Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another”.
We are all witnesses that his life complied with that law. As a man of deep
faith in God yet a researcher of meticulous scientific integrity, Jim was a
rarity in today’s world.
Things to
remember
His Aussie chuckle
His visit last year to the
site of the new radio telescope in
His quiet sense of humour
and positive outlook, which would relieve the pressure when there were setbacks
in projects or when lawyers were waging war or national delegations taking
opposing positions.
And behind it all, a kind
and gentle man of unfailing integrity and trust.
Upon closing I would like to refer to
Psalm 90, where we read:
“Teach us to
number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”.
Jim, thank you for applying your heart to wisdom! We’ll miss you. See you later.
Taranta – Diego Sonseca
Homily – Father Francis
The
congregation then sang a hymn by St Francis of Assisi:
Make me a channel of your peace:
where there is hatred let me bring your love,
where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,
and where there's doubt, true faith in you:
Make me a channel of your peace:
where there's despair in life let me bring hope,
where there is darkness, only light,
and where there's sadness, ever joy:
O Master grant that
I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love with all my soul!
Make me a channel of your peace:
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
in giving of ourselves that we receive,
and in dying that we're born to eternal life.
Prayers for International cooperation
My Heart will go on – sung by Beth Cohen
Commendation
Exit to Saint-Saens Requiem: Hostias-Sanctus-Benedictus
November 1st - for Jim
Morning broke after a long cold night.
The ground shone with the first white frost of Autumn
Like, all the stars had fallen and were held fast.
The waiting was over November showed its true colours.
Then, a gentle sun lifted the star frost away
Greening the part of the earth where we knew Jim.
Others knew him too in different places, different times,
But Jim, in his quiet, kindly way touched us and left us
changed, for good.
His love, his care and fun and so much more,
We are richer for knowing him.
He leaves us with special memories,
Of things he shared with us.
Good wine, good food, his music, his knowledge, his very
good company.
Tell me, is everyone called Jim a gentleman?
This Jim was real gentleman
A generous and gentle man.
Jim, you have given so much, to those you knew and loved
And to those you will never know.
We love you Jim,
We will not forget you as long as there are clear nights and a
deep sky full of stars.
Moira