It’s hard to believe that we are here today to say our farewell in this life to Jim McLean.
We know that Jim was a great lover of the bard who wrote,
“O, wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An’ foolish notion.”
To see oursels as others see us…
That is what a eulogy..a tribute is all about…I`m thankful to Mae and the family for their input into this tribute as we reflect on Jim`s life.
I’ve known Jim for the best part of 10 years, most of you will have known him a lot longer and I’m sure that what we will all remember about Jim is his warm personality – his zest for life. Always on the go, always with a cheery word and good banter, whether that was in the Bowling Club, the Church or his own home, he was always the same. You never felt down when Jim was around because he would brighten up a room with his quick wit, twinkling eyes and big smile and his words..Stand to attention!
We remember today that Jim was also a man of principles –who believed in doing things the right way – Jim was no fool, he was a bright and intelligent person, well read, loved his history books and especially loved the works of Rabbie Burns.
For the last 6 years, the Kirk Session has held a Burns supper every January – a night of friendship and fellowship and Jim was the star of the evening – giving his tribute to Burns – something he worked hard at to get right for the Kirk Session. We will long remember the passion that he showed in his oratory and the way that he attacked the haggis with his dagger.
Jim served faithfully as an elder here at Hillington Park Church and was greatly loved by the congregation. He sat at the back of the church and kept a watchful eye on all that was going on. He will be sorely missed by many here for his bright and positive personality and his love for this Church. As an elder, he was faithful to his duties and to the meetings where he was never afraid to speak up and add his wise words to the discussions.
When Jim did anything – he always did it well – whether that was the janitorials in the Bowling Club or the Church – (Yes, the Club and the church have been linked for some time through Jim and the janitorials) or whether that was reading the Scriptures on a Sunday morning or to be the honorary president at the Bowling club, Jim took great pride in all he did.
In his working life, Jim’s job title was “Purveyor to the food industry” – He worked tirelessly as a sales rep, travelling many miles to sell his wares. One of his favourite runs was the Argyll run and when Jim heard I was from Kintyre, he was happy to recite all the customers on the road to Campbeltown and also some of the local worthies ..He remembered his travels with fondness.. Fergusons the Butchers in Lochgilphead where Jim would stop for a cup of tea or Laws in Ardrishaig where he would have a wee nap before heading back to Glasgow or Hyslop the Butchers in Tarbert, where he had a great rapport with the boys and the girls in the shop…on first term names with Ritchie and Jean and Wallace… or the Stewarts in Campbeltown, where he became good friends with them and his trips down to Campbeltown, became a life long friendship with many people. But that is the type of man that Jim was – he loved company – he loved socialising – he loved meeting people.
Jim`s life began on the 10th February 1935. He was the youngest of two sons to his father Alec and his mother Sadie, who passed on just a few years ago. Jim had a very happy childhood in the east end of Glasgow… Dalmarnock… to be precise. He was brought up with his brother Alec. He was like many other young boys of that age, aspiring to be great footballers, out on the roads playing football or anywhere he could find some space, a ball and a few mates and Jim was there. I`m told that his mother used to say, “Jim was always running about with a ball at his feet” and it’s not too difficult to imagine Jim as a footballer, his balance, his poise and agility…He would love me saying that!
I occasionally met Jim as he was walking back from the Bowling Club to his house and I would be going to the church and he would say, you like a centre forward John and I said you’re definitely a left half.
Then he would go onto tell me that he was similar style to Jim Baxter… a silky left half.
He played for the BB and also for his schools – Strathclyde Primary and Riverside Senior Secondary. When he did his National service at 18 years old his football skills was to be noticed by the army and he also played for non league club Illfracombe Town. He was also a fully qualified referee at junior league level, and he was chased off the field a couple of times for his trouble!
In his later years, Jim loved to speak about football and many of the topics of conversation on a Monday morning with the fabric team, here in the church, was about football and I’m sure these conversations continued on in the Bowling Club.
But we remember Jim primarily as a family man. He was devoted husband to Mae and I’m told that they met in a blind date and Jim was to marry his love from Kilsyth in the Congregational church in Kilsyth on1959. They have had a happy marriage and have had many blessings. They have enjoyed the love and support from family and friends. They were blessed with two children Alison in 1961 and David in 1965. He was very proud of his children. The family were to put their roots down in Cardonald and in 1968, Jim joined Cardonald Bowling Club which was to become a big part of their lives.
Mae said some of their happiest times in their life were when Jim was president in 1987 and he received a lot of support from people at the club. Jim went on to be Match secretary, House convenor, honorary vice president and then honorary president. He was looking forward so much to the Bowling Club Centenary next year and was excited about the year that lay ahead. Jim was also a founder member of Paisley Indoor Bowling club and played in a triple during the winter, on a Saturday morning with Ronnie McDonald.
Jim was delighted to welcome into the family his son-in-law Neil and his daughter-in-law Shirley and his joy was complete, with the arrival of his grandchildren Adam and Sarah – Jim had a great rapport with young people and I`m sure that he enjoyed much fun with his two grandchildren.
He was also greatly loved and respected by his sister-in-law Helen and brother-in-law Malcolm and much loved uncle to Carolyn, Ken and Lesley and an uncle to Mairi and Sarah.
But Jim’s affections stretched further than his biological family for he became a much loved adopted ‘Granpa Jim’ in Scotland and also in Canada where he had an extended family, and he was truly honored to have been chosen by those children to fill the ‘Granpa’ gap in their lives. The picture on the screen is of Jim on one of holidays to Canada.
There are many more stories and aspects to Jim’s life that you will treasure – many memories of him as a husband, dad, grandpa, uncle, brother-in-law, friend, bowler, work colleague, church elder, neighbour that you could share about Jim McLean. Jim`s life could easily fill a book and the turnout today shows how popular Jim has been.
I’m sure over tea and coffee at the bowling club you will be able to smile and reflect upon the happy times that you had with Jim McLean.
I can hear him saying to me, “That’s right your reverence!” A title he would often greet me with.
But as I said at the start, Jim was an intelligent man and he was a man who had faith and his faith was expressed in different ways but especially in his service to the church here.
Today we unashamedly have a Christian service and in doing so this service is not just about Jim McLean, it is also about the hope and faith that he had in God.
Jim was a salesman and I think he would have been excellent at selling his stock…It would be hard to say no to Jim.
I`m not a salesman but I do believe that Jim would have wanted me to say something positive about the faith in which he trusted.
He would have been the first to give God the glory and so today we gather to say thankyou to God for the wonderful hope that he has given to us all through Christ, his son.
There is a verse in the Bible that says, “For God so loved the world that he gave us His son, that whoever believes in Him shall never perish but have eternal life.”
That’s the hope that Christians have – a hope that tells us that we are loved by something much greater than ourselves…we are loved by the Eternal God..the creator and so loved are we, that he gave his Son for this world to bring forgiveness and reconciliation.
That is what the cross is all about – God taking our faults upon himself that we might live for all eternity…whoever believes in this will never perish…
So that when we pass from this life, we can stand before God– not in our own goodness or anything that we have achieved but we can stand in the grace of God.
That’s the confidence that we have today…as we entrust Jim into the mercy and grace of a Loving God and we believe today that Jim`s soul is at peace awaiting the resurrection day, when all who are in Christ shall rise.
Burns wrote…
“Had we never lov’d sae kindly,
Had we never lov’d sae blindly,
Never met — or never parted –
we had ne’er been broken-hearted”
Today we grieve at Jim`s passing because we loved him. But we also look forward to that great and glorious day when we will meet again.
Until that time, thank you for the memories, Gentleman Jim!
Amen
January 2014