Tribute by Ray Jones

Tribute by Ray Jones, read at the funeral service by Derek Cowie

David was a lovely man and it is my great privilege to offer some words about our friendship.

First may I express my sympathy in the sorrow that Pat, Clive, Moira, Gavin and Catriona are feeling now, and to Phyll, David’s loved mother-in-law and to Lynda and Barry and their children and grandchildren. You have lost a loving husband, father, son-in-law, brother and uncle. We, his friends, share your sorrow and offer our love in your loss.

David was a friend over the last 52 years. We met when Pat brought her university student boyfriend to a party at Christmas time in 1958. Pat and my wife Pat have been close friends since being 4 years old and Dave was soon part of our circle of friends and was present at our wedding in 1959. Pat and Dave’s wedding followed the year after and it was not long before they set off to live in Cookham, where David had a good job teaching in the training college of ICT, the computer company.

When Clive was born and then our first son Glynn, we went as families on our first holiday together to Criccieth and a couple of years later with extended families that included Moira and Michael, all squashed together in David’s Company estate car, to Llanbedrog in North Wales.

Some years later we were taken to Malta by Pat and David, first without the children and then later another wonderful family holiday – one that our two sons still remember with pleasure.

David was a lovely man….. and he was a real friend. He was generous in everything he did. What I found unique was the way he took a real interest and shared the enjoyment and achievements of those he cared about. He was absolutely genuine.

In times when people seem to count the number of friends they have by the length of the list of their Facebook contacts, David was a friend in the real sense of the word.

He was a lovely man.

12 years ago, David became ill with heart problems and was so ill that we thought then that his life might come to an early end. It was with amazement and great joy that Pat and I visited him in Wythenshawe hospital and found him sitting up in bed and entertaining us with his wit as ever. Since then, we have been away on short holidays nearly every year, first in England and Wales and later, when he had regained some of the confidence he had lost when he was ill, to cities all over Europe.

I don’t need to tell those of you here who knew him well, that even though walking was tiring for him, he never once complained, and we walked him through large cities and viewed many cathedrals and castles with enthusiasm. There were a few stops, when he claimed to be pausing to admire some obscure feature of a building, but then he carried on.

David never displayed any religious faith and certainly did make known his political colour. He did move slightly to the right from being a member of the Communist Party to supporting New Labour!

He always respected the religious and political beliefs and thoughts of his friends and in this too he was genuine. We had great discussions over many meals and at times I wondered why this friend was arguing with me when I thought we had the same feelings and ideas about things. It took me some time to realise that I was being wound up for the sake of a good argument! However, there was never any bad intent in his winding up; he did it for the fun of it and never to make me (or anyone else) feel resentful.

Pat and I were very fortunate to have visited Dave at home after he had returned from his long stay in hospital. He was in some discomfort from his difficulty in digestion, but was cheerful and joining in our usual chats about the present political goings on with the election campaign in place. His last words to us were “don’t forget to vote labour”. We won’t.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
Who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has left the world better than he found it;
Who has looked for the best in others and given the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration
Whose memory is a benediction

Dave had a big heart, but it finally gave out the morning after we had visited him when he died very peacefully in his chair.

He was a lovely man. His going is our loss.

Pob hwyl Dafydd,  Goodbye David