Bangladesh will miss you, Father Timm: Dr Yunus

Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus has expressed deep shock at the death of former Principal of Notre Dame College, Father Richard William Timm, saying that Bangladesh will forever miss him.

"I am very sorry to see Father Timm go," said the Nobel laureate in a condolence message on Monday.

Prof Yunus said no disaster in Bangladesh could escape his quickest and the most daring responses and he was a towering symbol of humanitarian work.

Father Timm spent all his life in Bangladesh, always available for anything which would serve the poor, said Yunus.

"I met him in Notre Dame University (in Indiana, USA) in April, 2018. I was at the university to give their annual public lecture. I was told by one of the Professors that Father Timm was on the campus. He said that he (Father Timm) apologised that he could not attend the lecture. I immediately wanted to meet him, which I did as soon as I was done with the official programme," Dr Yunus recalled.

He said he was disappointed to see Father Timm in a small hostel accompanied by five elderly people.

"The man who was closest to the people is now far away from the people he loved," Dr Yunus said.

Father Timm wanted to know everything about Bangladesh. "He was on a wheelchair. The nurse repeatedly told me not to make him talk. But he would not stop. Finally the nurse decided to take him back to his room."

Dr Yunus said, "I could see how much he missed Bangladesh."

Father Timm, one of the founders of Notre Dame College in Dhaka, repeatedly said, "I wanted to die and be buried in Bangladesh. But no one is listening to me. I am so helpless."

"Father Timm, you'll forever remain in the hearts of Bangladeshis… Bangladesh will forever miss you. You have left your fingerprints in every disaster area of Bangladesh. May God grant your soul eternal peace," he added.

Father Timm died in the United States at the age of 97.

Father Timm, who played a significant role during the Liberation War, breathed his last at 1:30pm local time in Indiana on Friday.