Dan's Eulogy for family story as read at funeral Aug.1, 2020. Written by older brother Tom Timlin

My Brother  Dec. 20, 1958 - July 25, 2020  P. 1

Thank you all for being here for me today.

What can you say to honor your only brother, your only sibling? An only sibling is your childhood soulmate, knows the family history and stories, the sorrows and the joys, the good and bad times no one else could possibly know or feel. I am now the last person left from our immediate family.

 I choose to remember Dan for all the good times and funny stories. In adulthood we had our disagreements and disappointments, but we really knew in the long run none of that matters. There are too many memories to list today, or we would be here for a month.

 

Some Memories from Childhood:

Our Mother and Father were always proud of us boys, imperfections, and all. They did all the things good parents do to raise their children.

 

 They took us on many vacations to the mountains, to California, out east, into Canada, later to Florida, or camping with camper. We found ourselves in in caves, historical and presidential homes, old forts, Our Home Movies show all this.….we had one of the best hands on education about geography, nature, and history because of these trips. We also had fun at amusement parks and such. Not every kid was so lucky.

 

We were typical little kids of the 1960’s, playing with our neighborhood friends. Bancroft Park in back of our house was our playground. I will

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always remember my brother most from childhood. From an early age, Dan was good at attracting attention to himself and making people laugh:

 

1.    One of my earliest memories is my 4 year old brother on Indiana Street where we lived until 1965.  He sat down in a mud puddle in a dirt driveway, smeared mud all over himself, beat his chest and declared he was Tarzan to an audience of about 7 kids. Mom had to wash his clothes and give him a bath.

2.    The Sewer Story-5 years old, he and his friend dropped a rubber baseball down the sewer…they tried to fish it out…took the iron grating off and dropped it down in the sewer, and both ran home. The local busy body called the police. Dan and Dad and I went out and the other kid and his father came out. The cop kindly lectured them. The other kid was crying and said “they’re gonna take me to jail.” We still laughed about that.

 

3.    The Black eyes and sled – Dan was on the sled on his belly behind our house…ran into a tree and received two black eyes. The next day they took his kindergarten photo. I the early 1980’s I found some copies, showed him, laughing. The next day those photos disappeared mysteriously. When I discovered that I laughed out loud…I knew exactly how they disappeared.

 

4.   Dan got locked out of the house on Indiana Street when he was  6. He was mad and pounded so hard on the storm door he broke the

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   glass and received some minor cuts on his arm. You could see the scars from those for decades. Another story we used laugh about. This must have been an indication he was going to go into karate.

Grandma’s Place:

For years even into adulthood, our most cherished memories were of Grandma Margaret Allen and her country home north of Clare 2 miles, on Old US 27 was our 2^nd home. It was the family gathering place on my mother’s side of the family for holidays and other informal get-togethers.

Grandma’s place was our other childhood playground, Dan and I were there almost every two weeks for 20 years, and then later about once per month. Memories from there included:

·      The park across the street

·      All of the cousins and relatives on mom’s said of the family,

·      My Father and Uncles always played golf there one block up the road.  

 

***Our older cousins we looked up to, Kathy and Pat Mickle. The Hoovers, Cindy and Steve, cousins more our age, were our playmates whenever we got together. I know Dan cherished those times with our cousins, all the fun we had.  Another chapter in itself.

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Dan and I remembered and loved our parents’ dear friends who often played cards with them, went on picnics and other social gatherings: the Fosters and the Warrens and many others. And later Tammy’s parents, Tom and Nancy. My mother

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and father grew to love Tammy like a Daughter, and became close friends with her late parents, Tom and Nancy.

 

We heard our parents and friends carrying on and laughing. We couldn’t decide which friend’s laugh made us laugh the most. Probably Dot Foster. What a cherished memory these people are who are now gone, as well as our aunts and uncles. They were a major part of our lives.

 

The Warren Girls were always like cousins to us. Together we tore up their basement running around to the point of each parent separately having to take turns coming down to scold us. The Warrens and Timlins often went to Gun Lake and spent a long day together on the beach and in the water. The Warren girls surely gave us a good example of what it was like to have sisters…pure terror….I mean…fun and mischief.

·      And yes, we must remember our family pet, a Scottie Dog named “Smokey” who seemed to gravitate toward Dan the most. What a little character he was.

Musician:

Dan was a natural musician, he learned fast, could play guitar solos way better than I. He could sing well. We both took piano lessons. At a piano recital once, after he played his rehearsed piece, by ear he played his short rendition Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues…probably the first time you heard that at a classical music concert. Dan learned to play drums on a toy drum set. We started a band with two other kids. He was pretty good keeping a steady beat and doing fills. Of course, we were

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beginners and were awful. My parents were saints for putting up with the noise.  

Dan was a percussionist in the band program at Otto JH and Sexton HS. He used to say with a grin that at Sexton when he took a snare drum test, he couldn’t read the music, he’d just listen to the first three guys and imitate what they played and passed the test with an A.

Very few people know that Dan got his start in Martial Arts from a small illustrated Ju Jitsu instruction book from a comic book ad. And watching Bruce Lee on the old Green Hornet TV series. The problem was he would often practice on me.

Clunker Cars: We always laughed about this one:

My clunker car had been towed to the shop. I needed a ride home, called Dan and he came to pick me in his old beater. Dan needed to replace his brakes and on the way home they gave out. We couldn’t stop, we hit these guys in front of us because we couldn’t change lanes, they pulled over just as we did into a left turn lane, we hit them again, they thought we were nuts. I told Dan “It’s a good thing you know karate.” The cop let Dan off easy, Dan did not get a ticket, he talked his way out of it somehow. But for years we referred to this as our Laurel and Hardy experience, “Well, Stanley, this is another nice mess you’ve gotten us into.” And we still recently laughed about it.

Dan met Tammy in 1977. They have been together ever since. I cannot thank my sister-in-law enough for taking good care of him in his declining health over the years and his business. She is truly a champ of all champs. I am at loss for words in our shared grief. Although they

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never had children, their children are really all their young students over the years who took lessons from them and their dedicated staff at the Mid-Michigan Academy.

Dan was my best man at my wedding in 1989.  For me, he was the only choice. I knew only he would be the first one to inform me that we ran out of beer at the reception. Just kidding. I knew I could count on him more than anyone else.

***Like all siblings should, Dan and I managed to reconcile much of our differences we had over time.  It was so hard to accept Mom’s passing, and then Dad’s and the aftermath. In the last 15 years we have constantly entertained each other through e-mail, and by occasional visits in person. 

Dan and I took about 3 day trips together up north to the Clare Michigan area in the last 6 or 8 years to remember our roots and have a couple of laughs. Thank God we did, we were able to find each other again, we found our childhood and our brotherhood again.

To all of you, I hope you will remember today, in Dan’s honor, That  your sibling is your childhood soulmate, knows the family history and stories, the  sorrows and joys, and good and bad times shared that no one else could possibly know and feel. 

Dan and I were taught long ago, through a song based on a bible quote used in the Catholic Church: “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.” I know he would want you to remember and live that philosophy as you lead your lives.