10/12/03 11.am

ARRIVAL AND ENTRY MUSIC 

Karl Jenkins-The Armed Man-A Mass for Peace

(London Philharmonic Orchestra)

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

Good morning everyone and welcome.

Before we commence with today’s service please be conscious of turning off your electronic devices for the duration of the ceremony. Thank-you.

My name is Jo Napthine and I am an independent funeral celebrant.

It is a great privilege for me to be here this morning to officiate the funeral of such a well-liked and respected gentleman and on behalf of the Cosgrove family I would like to thank you all for being here today. You are warmly invited for refreshments and to raise a glass of ale at Thornton Manor following this ceremony and any donations today will be going to Help the Heroes.

It is only natural that you should all feel sadness as we say farewell to someone you shared your life with and loved dearly. Today we have gathered to honour, respect, and remember Harold Cosgrove who touched and enriched all of your lives in so many different ways.

Every person here represents a life he made an impression on during his time among us.

Today we address your grief as a community-to provide a space capable of holding the intensity of our feelings so we can release and remember through the deep connection of loss. We need these tears, they are a tonic helping us to digest this difficult new reality and when we embrace love and loss it sharpens our appreciation for those we love.

In times of darkness, love sees…

In times of silence, love hears…

In times of doubt, love hopes…

In times of sorrow, love heals…

And in all times, love remembers.

May time soften your pain

Until all that remains

Is the warmth of the memories

And the love.

(May time soften your pain - Anon)

Please turn to page 2 in your order of service programme and be upstanding as we sing, How Great Thou Art. 

HYMN-How Great Thou Art

Please be seated.

EULOGY (read by Jo Napthine)

Born to John and Edith on 21st May 1921 Harold Cosgrove was known affectionately by friends as H, by his mother as Al, or if he was in trouble with his mother, COSGROVE.

The youngest of six children H grew up in Wallasay in Merseyside with his siblings Maggie, Lizzie, Edie, George and Ann. After leaving school he took an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator, a profession he would enjoy for 51 years.

During the Second World War he joined the Durham Light Infantry where I am told they had the fastest marching pace, 176 paces a minute. In 1941 H’s work in logistics took him to Italy where he was transported on a troopship manned by lascars. Friendships were forged during what must have been a difficult time and one in particular, Alf Tilson, a bus driver from London who was a good friend, a father figure and taught H to drive.

After World War 2 H returned to Wallasay where he soon met the love of his life Dorothy through his friendship with her brother Jack. They met while out drinking and the rest is history. After a shotgun wedding in March 1941 H and Dorothy welcomed their children Brian (sadly no longer with us) Dorothy, Tony, and Kevin. Dorothy always knew that H had an eye for the ladies and had that twinkle in his eye. She called him her brill cream boy, always so smart in his suit and flat cap.

H was often described as old school, he was staunch Labour, an Everton supporter through and through and not at all religious and lived his life by his motto-be adventurous.

By nature  H was easy going, placid and laid back, so laid back that for two years he maintained the microwave wasn’t working when in fact all it needed was a new fuse. He would have preferred to light a candle to read a paper than to bother with a fuse.

H was profoundly deaf all his life but still enjoyed Dorothy’s music, the stuff she liked, Perry Como and a particular favourite song, “And I love you so”.

In 1985 H sadly lost Dorothy to cancer and was understandably quite lost.

After battling lung disease H died at home on 26th November aged 82.

H believed in the possibility of an afterlife despite not being religious and it may comfort us to know that he is now reunited with his beloved Dorothy.

H will be missed by so many, by his children Dorothy, Tony and Kevin, and by his grandchildren Debbie, Lynn, Dean, Joanne, Anthony, Kylie, Ben and Jennifer. Whether you knew him as dad, grandad, or just H, let us remember a life well lived with memories to cherish.

Let us take a moment to remember absent friends.

At this time we particularly remember Dorothy and Brian.

Our thoughts are ever with you.

I would like to invite H’s youngest son Kevin to light a candle.

(Kevin Cosgrove lights candle)

The flame of a candle symbolizes remembrance.

The light of their memory can never be extinguished in the hearts of those who loved them. 

 And now Kevin would like to read a poem for his dad - Life Lived Well.

READING (Life Lived Well-author unknown)

(Read by Kevin Cosgrove)

A life lived well is a precious gift

Of hope and strength and grace,

From someone who has made our world

A brighter, better place.

It’s filled with moments, sweet and sad

With smiles and sometimes tears

With friendships formed and good times shared

And laughter through the years.

A life lived well is a legacy

Of joy and pride and pleasure,

A living, lasting memory

Our grateful hearts will treasure.

Thank-you Kevin for reading that poem for your dad so beautifully.

REFLECTION (I’ll Be Seeing You-Jimmy Durante)

Video tribute

THE COMMITTAL (curtains to close)

Could you please stand for our final act in our farewell ceremony where we say goodbye to H.

(Music - A Time of Solace by Dan Phillipson)

We have been remembering with great affection and gratitude the life of Harold Cosgrove.

To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose on earth. A time to be born and a time to die. Here in this last act, in sorrow but without fear, in love and appreciation, we commit Harold Cosgrove to be cremated.

(Fade music) 

CLOSING WORDS

As we leave today and return to our homes and our work, let us remember to grow from this ending into a new beginning, to let go of H and with all our loving memories gathered form our journey, gain strength as we move through the days ahead without him. It will be through each of us that H’s memory stays alive. Let us remember H with love and gratitude, enriched and inspired by those special memories. Today and always, may your loving memories bring you peace, comfort and strength.

I would like to leave you today with some words from Terry Pratchett…

“No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away, until the clock wound up winds down, until the wine they made finishes its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life is only the core of their actual existence.”

EXIT MUSIC

 And I love you so –Perry Como.