Family pay tribute following fatal collision – Oxfordshire

The family of a man who died following a road traffic collision on Wednesday (24/1) have today paid tribute.

Tim Joss, aged 68, died after he was involved in a collision with a car, as he was cycling on Witney Road, near his home in Brize Norton. An investigation is ongoing into the collision.

His family said: “Tim Joss  (68) who died in a cycling accident near his Brize Norton home on 24^th January, was a remarkable man; a gifted pianist, a talented mathematician, a bridge builder and a visionary leader in his field of arts and health who brought people and ideas together to benefit society.

“Possessed of a formidable intellect, he won a scholarship to read maths at Queens College Oxford but his real love was music.  He went on from Oxford to study piano at the Royal Academy of Music.  He did not want the life of a solo performer preferring to work in arts administration, first in dance and then managing the Bournemouth orchestras.  He became Artistic Director of the Bath Festivals. 

Being an impresario meant travelling widely to bring great music to Bath.  This included a South African goldmine choir (earning him a much prized letter of congratulation from Nelson Mandela), tango and flamenco artists and French contemporary music.  He was made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour for his services to French music.  Every kind of music interested him and he was responsible for the successful careers of many artists.

“His next venture was heading a major grant giving trust, the Rayne Foundation.  His ideas, his focus and his determination to develop a theme of bridge building led him to unite choreographers with areas of life they might never encounter – the army for instance.  The hit dance show ‘Five Soldiers’ by Rosie Kay was one of the outcomes of this remarkable project.  He also set up the National Numeracy Scheme and developing funding that brought Arab and Jewish children to learn together in Israel.

“He founded Aesop a decade ago.  The idea was to solve society’s problems through evidenced, scalable arts interventions.  In his first projects, Dance to Health, specially trained choreographers, smuggled well evidenced exercises into group dance for those at risk of falls.  The dance groups he created had brilliant fun whilst reducing their risk of falls by nearly two thirds. At the time of his death, with no suggestion of retirement, he was working on the best arts forms to help women prisoners on short term sentences escape self harm and ways of making the lives of people with breathing conditions easier.  He was incredibly proud of his colleagues at Aesop, and of his board and dance artists.

“There was so much in his life that he could have boasted about but he was unfailingly modest and wore his talents lightly.  He always met people where they were and had a special skill for bringing people together from across his wide networks .  And when he had an idea, he was utterly determined about it, no matter what the setbacks.  He was a man of strong principles and values.

Tim is survived by his widow, the science broadcaster Vivienne Parry with whom he had a deeply happy marriage and by his daughter Hannah and stepsons Owen and Ellis.   His most special gift was his love; which was warm, unbounded and generous.  Sadly his death has robbed his granddaughter, Clemency from knowing the joy of growing up with that love.”

GFL