Danish Eulogy
The eulogy at Jorgen Philip-Sorensen Danish funeral was read by his son Mark Philip-Sorensen.
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My father was a great lover of jazz and before I share my words with you, I would like to read some lyrics of song sung by Louis Armstrong which we all listened to together with him on his last day.
The lyrics are titled - Dream A Little Dream Of Me - and they go…..
- Stars shining bright above you
- Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"
- Birds singing in a sycamore tree
- Dream a little dream of me.
- Say "Nightie-night" and kiss me
- Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me
- While I'm alone and blue as can be
- Dream a little dream of me.
- Stars fading but I linger on, dear, still craving your kiss
- I'm longing to linger till dawn, dear, just saying this
- Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
- Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you
- But in your dreams whatever they be
- Dream a little dream of me.
Clear blue skies, birds tweeting, Louis Armstrong playing and a Swiss train tooting. These are the last memories we have, of being with our father. In those last few hours everything was peaceful and perfect. He couldn't of planned a better day to leave us.
In fact it was a fantastic day.
Nils Jorgen Philip Sorensen was a remarkable man. He was a husband, a father, and a grand father. Nothing can replace him. Well apart from the carrying of a leather bag, the sound of a glass of whisky with ice chinking, the smell of a Cohiba cigar, and the love of a toy plane!
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Born in 1938 to Eric and Brita as the eldest son, he was a naughty boy at the beginning but soon grew to become a natural leader, Chanting the Securitas words - Integrity, Vigilance and Helpfulness.
And from this little boy with blue eyes and blond hair and some may say a sneaky, inquisitive but gentle smile, he has achieved, he has seen and he has done things that many of us can only dream of.
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Through out his work he has met people all over the world. You may have only spent a few minutes with my father but as with everyone he would leave a permanent impression of inspiration for them to feed on.
This is a gift which is truly unique.
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On visiting him in Switzerland a few months ago I had the opportunity to discus a few things with him. These were;
- 1 - that he needed to sets his sights low each day and
- 2 - that there was no room for heroes.
On this memorable occasion he agreed that it would be a good idea to take on board these two points. Although I feel that this helped him, looking back now, I feel that even THIS must of been a great challenge for him. Why, because;
- He Always set his sights high and
- He was and still IS a hero to all of us today.
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During those last few weeks in the Clinque Genolier my sisters, Susse and I noticed that he had been using his signature smile to it's maximum effect. We saw that he had all the staff at the Clinque wrapped around his finger wanting to do everything they could and putting extra effort in looking after him and more importantly for him, looking after us.
Even though he was there for a relatively short period of time I know that they had great loyalty towards him and held him very close to their hearts.
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He was a confident man and very rarely lost for words. Always able to do an impromptu speech which would be memorable, personal and touching, or say a few wise words during a meeting, dinner or party. However, there was one occasion when I believe that his confidence was tested and when even HE may have been lost for words.
Approximately 30 years ago he was in a First Class seat on a flight to Singapore. Sitting next to him apparently, was a huge man and his equally huge wife looking through a lot of brochures. He could not help noticing what they were looking at and after one hours’s flying time took the courage and introduced himself.
The huge man next to him was very polite and asked him questions about his work and Group 4 in which my father eagerly replied to. But, after a period of time he had to follow business etiquette and prepared with his mental list of business questions, asked
“Sir, what line of business are you in?”
The reply was short and concise
“Sir, – I am the King of Tonga?”
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We all know that Skagen has always been close to Daddys soul. Even from a small boy he loved this beautiful and special place. On visiting him in hospital I always told him think and dream of Skagen when giving him a kiss goodnight, something which his blue eyes always glowed too! But more importantly, I would like to say that Skagen and its people have always been and will always play an important part of our families lives.
However we must NOT forget that he had a great love of England and a fondness for everything British. No more so than the love of his Farmcombe home and Estate where we had many memorable Easter BBQ’s and Christmas Carols.
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Now that i am nearly at the end of my words, I would like you say a few brief thankyou's.
1 - I would like to say a Special thank you to Alfred and Beerged for helping us with the planning of today's service. I know that daddy respected you both hugely and he would have been honored that you have organised such a perfect day for him.
2 - I would like to thank everybody at Ruth's hotel who are going to provide you all with food and drinks after the service today where everybody is welcome.
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And just before I finish my sisters and I would like to say a huge loving thank you to Susse for bringing our father closer to us AGAIN over the last 12 years. We know that there have been some tough times in amongst all the fun but we know it has been well worth it. It is something, Susse, we will always respect and thank you for.
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And finally on behalf of our families I would like to say heart felt thank you to you all in making the effort to be here to day and joining us in celebrating a truly courageous, generous, wonderful and unique man.
- Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
- Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you
- But in your dreams whatever they be
- Dream a little dream of me.
Far, jeg elsker dig
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