Bangladesh's firm friend Father Timm no more

Father Richard William Timm, Superior of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Bangladesh and one of the founders of Notre Dame College in Dhaka, passed away in the US on Saturday.

Father Timm, a lifelong friend of Bangladesh, was 97.

Father Kamal Corraya, executive director of St. John Vianney Hospital in Dhaka, confirmed his death.

Richard William won the Ramon Magsaysay award in 1987 for his contribution to peace and international reconciliation. Coming to Bangladesh in 1952, the US born humanist spent a larger span of his life serving the people here. He is the sixth principal of Notre Dame College in Dhaka where he launched the debating club, science club and adventure club too.

Father Timm worked to rehabilitate the victims of the catastrophic cyclone of 1970 in areas including Manpura in Bhola. He went to the Manpura island with his students from Notre Dame and then returned to Dhaka to take six month's leave to work for the victims.

During the liberation war in 1971, Father Timm played role in mobilising international public opinion in favour of Bangladesh’s independence. Later, he had active participation in the reconstruction of the worn-torn country at various levels.

He also assisted the people of Bangladesh during the devastating floods in 1996. Bangladesh government awarded him with the liberation war honour medal for his outstanding contribution to the liberation war.

Father Richard William Timm is well known as a researcher in the international arena. He had discovered about 250 marine species. One among the nematodes he discovered, marine nematode Timmia Parva has been named after him.

Father Timm was born on 2 March in 1923 in Michigan City, Indiana in the US. He studied at St. Mary’s Grade School and St. Mary’s High School and had obtained degrees on biology and parasitology from the Catholic University of America. He had been associated with the church since childhood.