The saddest part of it all was that we had been unable to visit him for the past two weeks, knowing how George thrives on chat and laughter we felt this would have been a great stimulation to him on his road to recovery. However, We managed to arrange video calls with him this past week and at the latest - only on Tuesday afternoon he looked well. 

He was taken unwell sometime around 11pm Tuesday nigh and passed away very soon afterwards. 

Messages from far and wide have been coming in all day - a testament to the impression he made on everyone he came into contact with,  be it five minutes for a quick joke or the latest bit of banter, to tell us how Rovers had played like Real Madrid at the weekend, to explain why Man Utd lost again, or be it five hours of constant chatter on the golf course with him. 

George has been and always will be the life and soul of many people - from his running days with Westbury Harriers where he took numerous youngsters under his wing through the 70s 80s, he continued giving his time and effort when managing Junior Golf and even in everyday life, he was there to offer advice and support on any matter from knocking down a house to fixing a light switch - and if you asked nicely he tended to come and do the job for you :-).  

As we all know his competitive edge was carried forward into everything he did, on the golf course - there was no such thing as 'a gimmee' when George was playing, "if its that close then put it in the hole". He thrived on the competitive battle - as much in the mind as in actual play. One of his favoured quotes being - "Second is the first loser".