Salem go-to guy

This from Bob Turney, one of Timm's coworkers from Congresswoman Darlene Hooley's Washington, DC office.

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I remember the first day I met Timm. Well, the first day I met him over the phone. I was in Washington, DC, and he was in Salem, Oregon. I needed to create a user account and an e-mail address for Timm for our office.

So I called him up. All I knew was his first name, which as you might guess, I'd already misspelled. Then I said to him, "Timm, what's your last name?"

And he said, at least phonetically, "Oak-ah-vay."

To which I replied, "How do you spell that?"

Which he answered. And then I was quiet for a while, as I tried to figure out how in the WORLD anyone was ever going to be able to type that to send an e-mail. Fortunately, we were able to solve that problem.

* * *

I also remember the first time I met Timm in person. He came out to DC for a training class, and we went to dinner, followed by a nighttime spur-of-the-moment driving tour of the Capitol. I remember that he wished he'd brought his camera.

I talked to Timm all the time. Whenever the folks in Salem needed some technical help, Timm was my go-to guy. He had a great knowledge of computers, which made it easier for me to do my job.

There was so much I didn't know about Timm. I knew he was very involved in the community, in his church, and was constantly there for others. I regret that I didn't learn so much more about his work, how he devoted his life to helping others, until he was already gone.

I know that I'll miss Timm, that my coworkers will miss Timm, and that the people of Salem will miss Timm. But looking back on his work in life, I think I can say this:

The world will miss Timm O'Cobhthaigh.

That's "Oak-ah-vay." I'll remember that for the rest of my life.