Sunrise: 18th May, 1947
Sunset: 13th January, 2021
Service and Internment
A Celebration and Thanksgiving service for the life of
Dr. Harold Hercules Nylander
Monday 8th February, 2021 at 1.30 pm
Forest Park Chapel & Cemetery
Entrance Music: Amazing Grace — Soweto Gospel Choir
Welcome and Introduction Rev. Stephen Henwood
Praise my Soul the King of Heaven
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven, To the throne thy tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, Evermore God’s praises sing.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the everlasting King.
Praise the Lord for grace and favour To all people in distress;
Praise God, still the same as ever, Slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Glorious now God’s faithfulness.
Fatherlike, God tends and spares us; Well, our feeble frame God knows; Motherlike, God gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Widely yet God’s mercy flows.
Angels in the heights, adoring, You behold God face to face;
Saints triumphant, now adoring, Gathered in from every race.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace.
Reading - PSALM 23
The Lord is the one who is shepherding me; I lack nothing.
He causes me to lie down in pastures of green grass; he guides me beside quiet waters. He revives my life;
He leads me in pathways that are righteous for the sake of his name
Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness, I will not be afraid because you are with me. Your rod and Your staff —
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me, even in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Truly, goodness and gracious love will pursue me, all the days of my life, and I will remain in the Lord’s Temple forever.
Words of Remembrance
Dr. Harold Hercules Ojumere Nylander was the eldest and beloved son of four children born to Florence Cornelia Iyatunde Nylander in Freetown, Sierra Leone on the 18th of May 1947. Known as Harry by those who knew him, he was raised in the loving family
home of the extended Nylander Family.
As a child, Harry followed the family’s focus on education and began his educational journey in Freetown at the Cathedral Primary School, moving to Model Primary
School and completing his secondary education at Prince of Wales School known as the “Eton” of West Africa. During his years at school he was described as a diligent, adept
and hardworking student.
Upon leaving school he moved to the United Kingdom to attend Newcastle University. Harold achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a Medical Doctor in 1974. While
residing in Newcastle, he met the late Vivat Regina Idowu Nylander and began a three year courtship and married in 1976.
Upon graduation, Harry worked in numerous leadership roles in the medical field, supporting the National Health Service, becoming a supervisory medical doctor at Her Majesty’s Prison Service - Pentonville and as a Medical Director at the King Abdulaziz
Naval Base in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. He retired from medical practice as a general practitioner at the Sutherland Lodge Surgery in Chelmsford in 2010.
Harry and Vivat were blessed with three daughters, Lydia Nylander-Allen and Louise and Lynette Nylander and Harry was a devoted father and provider for his family. In later years he enjoyed visiting family and friends in the United States and the Ivory
Coast and enjoying the company of fellow members of the Albert Gate lodge. His intellect, knowledge and interest in current events, politics and sports
were unsurpassed.
Harry was a fierce advocate of his beloved Sierra Leone and was a founding member of the First Aid Community Organization (FACO), intended to support health and wellness for Sierra Leone citizens. Harry’s impact on this family, profession and
community is beyond measure. He will be sorely missed by his sisters Derelene, Enid and Harolda, his daughters Lydia, Louise and Lynette, cousins, nieces, nephews and
countless extended family members, friends and colleagues. His legacy lives on in the profound impact he made on his children and the people he touched, supported
or influenced in his own quiet, unassuming and non-judgemental way. In all the important ways, Harry lived up to his name as truly Herculean.
Reading: John 14:1-6
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to
the place where I am going.
How can we know the way? Jesus said to him. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
Redemption Song — performed by Lou Nylander,
arranged by Ross Power
In 1979, when Bob Marley started to write Redemption Song, the cancer that would lead to his death was already known to him: the pain of this reality is
an essential element which finds expression throughout his twelfth album “Uprising”.
The Jamaican-born artist found inspiration despite his diagnosis to compose an anthem that deals with freedom. Not simply physical freedom, but
liberation from the mental and psychological shackles life can impose on us. Of particular resonance is Marley’s inspiration for key lyrics of this song came from a speech from pan-africanist orator Marcus Garvey entitled “The Work
That Has Been Done”. This song acknowledges the parallels in the life of Harry and is a loving tribute from one of Harry’s favourite artists.
Through all the Changing Scenes of Life
Through all the changing scenes of life, in trouble and in joy,
the praises of my God shall still my heart and tongue employ.
O magnify the Lord with me, with me exalt his name;
when in distress, to him I called he to my rescue came.
The hosts of God encamp around the dwellings of the just;
his saving help he gives to all who in his mercy trust.
O taste his goodness, prove his love; experience will decide
how blessed they are, and only they, who in his truth confide.
Fear him, you saints, and you will then have nothing else to fear;
his service shall be your delight, your needs shall be his care.
To Father, Son and Spirit, praise! To God whom we adore
be worship, glory, power and love, both now and evermore!
Redemption Song — Bob Marley and the Wailers
Old pirates, yes, they rob I Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I From the bottomless pit
But my hand was made strong By the hand of the almighty
We forward in this generation Triumphantly
Won’t you help to sing These songs of freedom
‘Cause all I ever have Redemption songs Redemption songs
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy ‘Cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets While we stand aside and look
Oh! Some say it’s just a part of it We’ve got to fulfill the book
Won’t you help to sing These songs of freedom
‘Cause all I ever have Redemption songs Redemption songs Redemption songs
Won’t you help to sing These songs of freedom
‘Cause all I ever have Redemption songs
Won’t you help to sing These songs of freedom
‘Cause all I ever have Redemption songs
Let us pray
O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of your servant Harry, and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of your saints; through
Jesus Christ Our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God. now and forever,
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come; thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Prayers of the People
For our Brother Harry, let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ who said, “I am Resurrection and I am Life.”
Lord, you consoled Martha and Mary in their distress; draw near to us who mourn for Harry, and dry the tears of those who weep.
Hear us, Lord. You wept at the grave of Lazarus, your friend; comfort us in our sorrow.
Hear us, Lord. You raised the dead to life; give to our Brother eternal life.
Hear us, Lord. You promised paradise to the thief who repented; bring our
Brother to the joys of heaven.
Hear us, Lord. Our Brother was washed in Baptism and anointed
with the Holy Spirit; give him fellowship with all your saints.
Hear us, Lord. He was nourished with your Body and Blood; grant him a
place at the table in your heavenly kingdom.
Hear us, Lord. Comfort us in our sorrows at the death of our brother
let our faith be our consolation, and eternal life our hope. Father of all, we pray to you for Harry, and for all those whom
we love but see no longer, grant to them eternal rest,
let light perpetual shine upon them.
May Harry’s soul and the souls of all the departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace
Amen.
Recessional Music: Abide with Me
The family of the late Dr. Nylander would like to thank all our friends, family, and well-wishers for their support during this period of grief.
You wonder why I went away and did not say goodbye, I could not begin to tell you, for I hate to see your cry.
My ship came home on January 13th and it was beautiful to see, For the Captain was King Jesus, and safely he softly beckoned me.
I ran across the leeway, and feel down at his feet He gently took me in his arms, my rest became complete.
Memorial Donations in support of Cancer Research UK can be given here —
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lou-nylander
May his soul rest in peace.