A Funeral Service
to celebrate and give thanks for the life of
Sophie Ducker, AM
(9 April, 1909 – 20 May, 2004)
Trinity College Chapel
Monday, 24 May, 2004
at 3.00 pm
Warden of Trinity College: Professor Donald Markwell
Dean & Deputy Warden: Dr Stewart Gill
Principal of Janet Clarke Hall: Dr Damian Powell
Chaplain: The Revd Dr Richard Treloar
Chaplain to Trinity College Foundation Studies: The Revd Kim Cruickshank
Assistant Chaplain: The Revd Peter French
Director of Music: Mr Michael Leighton Jones
N H M Forsyth Assistant Director of Music: Mr Philip Nicholls
Bruce Monro Organ Scholar: Mr Jonanthan Bradley
Officiating Clergy:
The Assistant Chaplain
The Chaplain
The Revd Dr Norman Curry
Order of Service according to A Prayer Book for Australia.
Copyright 1995, The Anglican Church of Australia Trust Corporation.
From the text of A Prayer Book for Australia,
published under the imprint of Broughton Books.
Reproduced with permission.
Order of Service
All stand for the entry of the Choir and Clergy
Greeting
Chaplain:Grace and peace from the Lord be with you.
All:And also with you.
SITWelcome and IntroductionThe Assistant Chaplain, the Revd Peter French
Opening Prayersaid together
Loving God, you alone are the source of life.
May your life-giving Spirit flow through us,
and fill us with compassion, one for another.
In our sorrow give us the calm of your peace.
Kindle our hope, and let our grief give way to joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
STANDHymn sung by all
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Beneath the shadow of Thy throne
Thy Saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine Arm alone,
And our defence is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.
A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
Words: Isaac Watts, 1719
Music: William Croft, 1708
Hymns Ancient and Modern No 165
SITEulogies Lt. Col Klaus Ducker
Dr Tom Neales,
Reader in Botany, the University of Melbourne
Mr Rick Tudor
Headmaster, Trinity Grammar School
Hymn
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.
Words: Cecil A. Spring-Rice (1859-1918)
Music: “Thaxted” - Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
First Reading From Genesis chs 1-3
Read by Professor Pauline Ladiges
Head of the Melbourne University Botany School
Psalm 121Read by the Chaplain, the Revd Dr Richard Treloar
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Read by Ms Sallyann Ducker
AddressThe Revd Dr Norman Curry
FormerDeputy Chancellor,
The University of Melbourne
STANDHymn sung by all
1. Now the green blade risesfrom the buried grain,
wheat that in the dark earth
many days has lain:
love lives again,
that with the dead has been:
Love has come again,
Like wheat that springs up green. / 2. In the grave they laid him,
Love whom hate had slain,
thinking that he never
would awake again,
laid in the earth,
like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love has come again,
Like wheat that springs up green.
3. Up he sprang at Easter,
like the risen grain,
he who for the three days
in the grave had lain,
raised from the dead
my living Lord is seen:
Love has come again,
Like wheat that springs up green. / 4. When our hearts are wintry,
grieving or in pain,
then your touch can call us
back to life again –
fields of our hearts
that dead and bare have been:
Love has come again,
Like wheat that springs up green.
Words: John Macleod Campbell Crum (1872-1958) alt.
Music: Traditional French melody, “Noël Nouvelet “
Together in Song No 382
Reproduced with permission under license No 504
LicenSing copyright cleared music for churches
KNEELThe PrayersLed by the Chaplain
OR SIT
The prayers conclude with the Lord’s Prayer, said together:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive them that trespass against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and ever. Amen.
STANDThe FarewellThe Assistant Chaplain
During these prayers, which concluding as follows,
Sophie’s coffin is sprinkled with holy water, recalling her baptism
Chaplain:. . . who died and rose again to save us, and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit in glory forever.
All:Thanks be to God who gives us the victory
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The BlessingThe Assistant Chaplain
Organ PostludeMrJonathan Bradley, Bruce Munro Organ Scholar
During the postlude the coffin is carried from the Chapel
The Ducker family invites all present to join them for refreshments
at University House immediately following the service
Sophie’s coffin bears the Doctor of Science gown (University of London)
first worn by Alfred James Ewart in 1897,
who became foundation Professor of Botany and Plant Physiology
at the University of Melbourne.
The gown was bequeathed to Dr Ethel McLennan in 1937
(at that time the only female Associate Professor at the University),
and then to Sophie in 1983.
Sophie wore the gown with great pride,
and donated it to the University in the year 2000.
We are grateful to the University for making available
this historic piece of academic regalia.
Sophie Ducker in 1927, aged 18