The Hello, Dolly! cast was among the best I've ever experienced, It was a close knit, well-bonded group for the most part. Everything just clicked on this show. It is fun to be a part of such synergy and common purpose.
Yet, Timm was the rare exception, perhaps the only one. While most of us hung out for hours on end, he would often be the last to show up. Apparently he had an arrangement with the director, Ted Desel. He was obviously a very busy man. I always had the impression he was working a lot.
Timm was cast as Ambrose Kemper and paired with Ermengarde, played by Erin Fitch.
The Statesman Journal published a short biography on April 23rd '08 (“O’Cobhthaigh worked for congresswoman, newspapers”).
“A lot of men and women make the Mid-Valley a special place. Timm O’Cobhthaigh, who died Friday morning of a heart attack at age 44, was one of them.”
The writer noted how his “[l]ove of nature and love of photography” were conveniently “combined in one of his great passions, nature photography.”
He was well-known for his many photographs of The Oregon Garden and Oregon State Parks. He worked as freelance photographer for years with his work published in the Statesman Journal.
For about four years, from 2000 to 2004, he worked as a reporter and photographer for two small town papers: the Silverton Appeal Tribune and the Stayton Mail.
At his memorial service on Monday, people who knew him primarily as a journalist were amazed to learn of another side of his life. A 16-year member of Alcoholics Anonymous, O’Cobhthaigh had stayed sober and inspired others to do so, his friends said. He also co-founded Lakepoint Community Care, a nonprofit drug- and alcohol-outreach center in Salem to serve low-income people.
In 2007, O’Cobhthaigh became a district aide for Congresswoman Darlene Hooley. The job let him make fresh use of his social-work education and his passion for helping those in need. He assisted Fifth District constituents with problems involving nursing-home care, health insurance and Medicare, among other issues. He was instrumental in helping draft Hooley’s anti-meth program.
“O’Cobhthaigh left behind magnificent color nature portraits...”
“[H]e left hundreds of newspaper clippings that families will treasure in scrapbooks for years to come. He likely changed lives, even if he didn’t live to hear about it.”
AJH