I am honored to be here today to memorialize my dear friend, my brother, Tim. The amazing outpouring of love is obvious and overwhelming – truly Tim touched hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
For me and for my family, all of the Conovers are our family. We have known them all our entire lives, as they were next-door neighbors through childhood, high school, college years—and later, Tim worked with me and my brother David in the telecom world.
As I have been pulling out old photos of Tim, and enlarging some for this occasion, I feel like I am looking at one my brothers. I know his laughter, the sparkle in his blue eyes, the way he walked, the boyish, wondrous nature of his character. I knew some of his secrets, some of his dreams for life. We shared many memories through the years.
Losing Tim has been very emotional. I don’t think any of us here and elsewhere that knew him have thought of much else since February 2nd. But we will focus on the joy and happiness Tim brought to all of our lives. And there was plenty of that. More than a lifetime of good memories.
During the early childhood days in Waynewood, there was a core group of us on a few streets that joined in an open court: the Conovers, the Hendricks, the Deets, Karen Henry, Gloria Parmentier, and my family, the Abbotts. Behind us was David Long, and up the street around the corner so many others. But our core group was right there in a few homes, and we had the best time. We are all still friends today.
Tim was a part of everything that we all did as kids. From birthday parties at each others’ homes, to gatherings on our street to explode fireworks on July 4th, or participation in the parade with decorated bikes; Easter egg hunts with our families at Ft. Hunt Park, spending cool summer nights running through the neighborhood playing Kick the Can, Midnight Boom, and countless fun on Halloweens. Tim had some hilarious costumes. One in particular on July 4th he wore a yellow wig wrapped with a scarf, my brother David, the same. They dressed as girls and rode their bikes proudly.
My brother Robert, who could not be here today, remembered countless hours with Tim and others in Saul’s Creek to catch frogs; climbing trees whenever and wherever they could; tying a rope 20 feet from a tall tree, swinging and dropping over and over again, laughter exploding deep within; playing war soldiers on the trenches of “Erosion Hill,” a local neighborhood dug out; clutching broom handles or branches made into canes; sometimes even steeling lumber from each others’ garage.
Tim, Mike, David, and Robert, and other neighborhood boys explored the shores of the Potomac River, looking for reptiles, snakes, shells, rocks, and arrowheads.
David recalls several times when Tim came to our house, he’d knock on the door and ask for David. Once in July, Tim came dressed as Zoro, and just wanted David to go out and play with him dressed like that, so he did – Tim was always the adventurer! Another time Tim came rushing up the steps to the door asking for David to quickly come with him – Tim had found a snake he wanted to show David, knowing David’s love of reptiles. Imagine Tim walking through the woods and seeing that snake – running all the way to our house because he knew David would like to see it. Another time Tim showed up with some suitcases and said to David, “lets run away!” And David said, “OK” – and off they went to Mt Vernon Hill until the time it grew dark, they realized they had no food – and went back home – only to ‘run away’ again a few times later, it had been so much fun.
Tim was always adventurous, thoughtful of others, and loved the outdoors.
As Robert said, these idyllic wonderful days of childhood is where Tim and the boys challenged their imaginations to take them wherever they wanted to go, and they explored it all.
Karen Henry, another dear friend, wrote a note recently about how she, Tim and Robert were in a tree on summer evening catching fireflies in jars. Robert dropped his jar on Karen’s head and Tim jumped to her defense.
David recalled one summer July 4th at our local pool, when all the kids could dive in the pool for coins. Robert came up from the pool with an enormous amount of coins in both hands and the ‘neighborhood bully’ stepped over and knocked them all out of his hands. In the group of kids that were there, only Tim jumped in to Robert’s defense, facing the bully, making him pick up all the coins. Imagine the confidence it took for one person, Tim, to stand up like that.
Kim Deets, another neighbor among our group, remembered specifically Tim wanting to jump off the carport roof of their house, holding an umbrella, to see if he could fly. She remembered everyone begging him not to do it, but he did it anyway. A thud to the ground, he turned up grinning ear to ear.
In a similar attempt at flying, my brother Robert remembered a time where he and Tim tied sheets to their wrists and ankles and jumped out of the Mimosa tree in the Conover’s yard, hoping to take flight. They, or course, fell to the ground giggling and laughing. At least they had taken the risk.
As we all went through high school together and found other interests, Tim honed in on the world of magic. He would sit for hours in his carport reading, practicing, and come to teach each of us and try out his tricks. It was amazing to see something take such hold on Tim. He had found his path early on. Through high school and after, he would perfect his skills playing local-area clubs, and entertaining people on the Auto Train from D.C. to Florida.
He had found magic to be his dream. We all went off to college, my one brother to the Army. Some families moved away. Eventually, I went back home and worked in the telecom world. Tim came back home, too, and needed to work. He gave me his resume and was hired. He moved to Colorado where he worked in customer sales, but continued his love of magic on the side.
One colleague of Tim’s from those days in Colorado had this to say:
“We remember Tim in the Denver office. Tim purchased a ferret and kept it in his sock drawer for a month or so. He used the ferret for one of his tricks. It was amazing. HE WAS AMAZING. Such a great talent and nice guy. If I remember correctly he was in customer service in Denver. He would always ask Jim and me questions about what he was doing in his job and how he could get better at it. He cared about everything and everybody! He was a great gentlemen and just fun to be around.” We all will miss Tim. – Bonnie Kohnert
As the company grew globally, Tim grew restless of the corporate world 9:00-5:00. He had other things in mind. It was apparent that he had grown to love magic more than the day job, of course, and he met with the President of Newbridge at one point to talk about a possible idea. Peter Madsen, the former President of Newbridge, who launched Tim’s career in the corp event world had this to say:
“It’s hard to put into words how Tim affected many people’s lives. He was an amiable and dedicated co-worker, comfortable to be with and always chipper and outgoing. No pretenses; what you saw was Tim as he was. He’d occasionally do some amazing magic trick in the office to entertain us, he brought something to an office environment that was fun, different – he was special.
There came a time when Tim came into my office and said that his real goal in life was to perform magic as a living. Few people have the opportunity to do what they truly love to do and get paid for it. I put two and two together. I offered him his first professional gig . . . doing magic in our booth at an upcoming trade show.
Needless to say Tim was the hit of the show. Even those of us that had seen some of his “magic” around the office or at parties were astounded at the things he was capable of, clearly blowing all of us away at that first show, drawing huge crowds.
If there had been an award for the most memorable place to be at that show, we clearly would have won first place because of Tim.
I realized that once was not enough. Tim agreed to give us first right of refusal for all trade shows where we could have him cast his special magic. He always had new tricks that, smart as we thought we were, none of us could figure them out. The crowds that would come -anxious to see his latest trick grew, as did our company and naturally Tim’s reputation.
He was the best I’ve ever seen.
From time to time Tim would come perform for my children’s birthday parties and even once at a local cub scouts affair. He never hesitated to help and no group was too small or large to be wowed by his special genius. My wife Cathy and I considered Tim a dear friend.
Tim will always be that special guy that we knew back in the day. We will miss him dearly.” – Peter Madsen, former President of Newbridge Networks
I was the Trade Show Manager, so of course I witnessed all of his shows those first few years. Tim weaved the company name and products into his shows. It was not just about doing tricks, Tim had perfected a formula that was a breakthrough. People would come to the booth hours before the show to ask if he was going to perform. He was fast building a reputation in the corporate world.
Eventually, Newbridge set Tim free as he broke out on his own doing magic for corporations the world over—and the rest is history. For awhile after I left Newbridge, the company I worked for hired him for several events, and I was able to travel with him. We had many flight together, sharing a cab to the hotel, late nights with the team in various cities talking, laughing.
Tim was always the first to go back to his hotel room—he was the perfectionist about practicing his magic for the next day. Sometimes when he showed up he looked like he may not have slept all night, but when the time came for him to perform there was never anything so amazing. He thrilled audiences time and time again, including those of us who had seen dozens of his shows.
Tim always introduced something new, found a new way to do an old trick. He was always making things better, always finding new fans…
Another former Newbridge colleague had this to say:
“As with many of you, I have been consumed by thoughts of Tim ever since this news. And I guess we all ask ourselves the obvious questions while pondering the possibilities we cannot imagine nor will ever likely know. My gut instinct was to wonder if I might have affected this outcome by making a greater effort to be more than just an acquaintance of Tim’s. I happen to think magic was merely the vehicle Tim chose for interacting with others AND THAT HIS true passion was the enjoyment that his art form brought to others. His sheer and steadfast determination to establish this environment led to the obvious success of his career.
Naturally, as with most entertainers and others who’ve achieved recognition on this scale, this public life is only a part of the whole. As I reflect back on my interactions with Tim, I realize what a guarded person he was. Tim was one of those people who made you feel as if you were a great friend because he was genuinely interested in anything you wanted to talk about. I will ALWAYS remember the enthusiastic and empathetic person he consistently was. I pray Tim has found peace.” – Bruce Wofford
One other former colleague of Tim’s had this to say:
“Tim and I socialized a lot after work back then, he was my friend when I was going through a difficult time. Tim had a unique outlook on the human condition. He was unparalleled in his profession, always trying new effects, new ways to touch people with his magic. Those who say Tim perform were lucky; he was able to suspend the audience’s belief in reality for a moment in time. The essence of Tim is energy, enthusiasm, a child like sense of wonder, he is a true loss for the world. I am sorry I didn’t know of his recent struggles and I wish had been there for him. Be at peace my friend. – Warren Belkin
As we know, Tim went on to become world famous and win coveted awards the world over.
We lost touch for a while but I always found out what he was doing or where he’d been traveling through talking with Mike.
One thing I have to mention is the brotherly love between Mike and Tim. Through the years they were there for each other, saw each other through everything. Mike and I have been in close contact the last few years, and I am so glad my brother David and I visited Tim and Mike a little over a year ago. We were so glad to get to see our former colleague, childhood friend and “brother” being taken such good care of by Mike. Tim looked up to Mike, idolized him, even saying at one point that he wished he ad gone into physical therapy.
Tim will remain a very important and integral part of my life, or our lives. He made the world a much better place, he was a joy to be around, he was a complicated mix of shy, brilliant, insecure, genius, private and very public.
Recently on the phone with his sister Sharon, we talked about Tim and retold some stories. She mentioned to me that Tim’s favorite song has always been “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” and he had said to Sharon once long ago, “Imagine, blue birds flying over the rainbow!” with such wonder, amazement, innocence…as if he just wanted to go too.
Well, my darling friend Tim, you have flown over that rainbow…with the bluebirds…where the skies are always blue, and all your dreams can come true.
I will never forget Tim’s beautiful sweet smile, his silly giggle, gentle mannerisms, and all the memories. He was a steadfast, honest, loyal, and good friend.
I love you Tim…I will miss you now and forever.
*****
Liz’s Memorial Talk was followed by Sondra Pietrzak singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”