My short speech at Council Meeting 5 April 2023
Remembering my friend, Councillor Ian Davis - 1941-2023
We have a seat empty for all the wrong reasons this evening; that of my friend, colleague and Deputy Chairman of the OWL Group Ian Davis who died on Monday. It was very rapid as he contracted sepsis which led to organ failure.
Ian was one
of the three musketeers along with Cllr Jane Thompson and myself who launched
Our West Lancashire in January 2015 and he has been there ever since. He brought his wealth of life experience to
our group and to the wider council.
Sadly, I don’t feel that enough weight was sometimes given to Ian’s
interventions perhaps being dismissed as an idea from an opposition councillor
or just someone long retired.
In fact, Ian
held senior roles in business including being a former Managing Director of a
UK PLC, Thomas Robinson and Son who made flour milling machinery used locally
here at Ainscough Mill in Burscough but also around the world. He travelled extensively globally in the role
and to the City of London. Ian was a
fount of stories and he told me of some scrapes escaping from Iran in 1979 at
the time of the fall of the Shah.
Ian was a
qualified accountant and continued to practice, never 'hanging up his
ledgers'. I know he regularly helped out
local residents with financial matters without charge. His stewardship of Westhead Village Hall has
transformed the facility and it will stand as a reminder of Ian for many years
to come.
A native of
East Lancashire and a keen Burnley supporter, Ian was a talented footballer
playing centre forward in his younger years and also played Lancashire League
cricket. He was widowed relatively
young, but subsequently he met Tish and his love for her brought him to a new
home in West Lancashire and Westhead and his involvement with Our West Lancashire
and this council.
Ian, I miss
you already. Your OWL colleagues miss
you. Your absence will be felt keenly
wider still. May you rest in peace.
