As Welsh rugby mourned the loss of its top sports broadcaster Eddie Butler there would have been a number of local people and groups who were saddened by his death at 65 because he was a great supporter of charities and regularly visited the county to help raise much-needed funds for good causes, writes Bill Carne.
 
Eddie was ever-ready to give his support and not least of his endeavours was in his role as ambassador with Prostate Cymru and a very strong association with the Pembrokeshire Friends of Prostate Cymru, where he initially became involved with local founder Ray Williams and more recently with Brian Harries and Ray’s daughter Judith Griffiths, who is now the hard-working Hon Secretary of the group.
 
Judith was in Spain when she heard the sad news and told us from Madrid how devastated everyone was because of his tremendous contribution.
 

Special nights at the Ocean Bar & Restaurant . . .

 
Undoubtedly another couple of Eddie’s closest friends were Kay and Mostyn Davies, owners of the Ocean Bar & Restaurant in Broad Haven, where he did so much fund-raising.

“I first met Eddie when we started playing in the back row together with Pontypool, attending our first training session on the same evening around 1976 and we last saw him in the summer when he popped over from holidaying in Druidston to watch the South Africa versus Wales international on our big screen.
 
“When we started our ‘Lions’ Legends’ charity evenings on the evening before a Lions’ tour they became so popular that they have gone on ever since – and Eddie starred again over a year ago when they played in South Africa..
 
“He joined other great characters like Graham Price, our own Peter Morgan, Mike Ruddock, Clive Rowlands, David Bishop and others on these wonderful evenings where great crowds and excellent auction items meant huge sums were raised for Prostate Cymru.
 

Special tales about Telfer and Eddie’s ‘Mother’

 
We have had regular support and on every occasion Eddie was asked to repeat his special rendition of Jim Telfer’s ‘Everest’ speech before a Lions’ decider in South Africa – and as a born mimic and natural performer brought the house down as if it was coach Telfer was in the room and we were all Lions!
 
Equally well received, however, was the way they insisted he retell the story of his mother’s first meeting with Ray Prosser, the tough as teak Pontypool coach who said things as they were when she asked on their first meeting how her Edward was doing – and she asked the same question on every subsequent meeting despite learning a few choice new words!
 

Special thoughts from Prostate Cymru

Prostate Cymru added a moving piece on social media where they outlined his magnificent work and said they were honoured to have him as an official ambassador and will cherish their memories with him.
“Over the previous week “Eddie had shown his generosity and steadfast commitment to good causes by joining 25 other Prostate Cymru fundraisers, including his daughter Nell, on the Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu.
 
“In the early hours of Thursday, 15^th September, Ed passed away peacefully in his sleep at Ecoinka base camp in the Peruvian Andes. He leaves behind his wife Susan and six children, who are very much in our thoughts.”




 

Eddie was a pleasure to interview

 
On a personal note I was lucky to have met Eddie for interview on five occasions for radio and have copies of each as a memento of a giant of the spoken word. These came about at the Victoria Book Shop in Haverfordwest, run by Marley Davies as he wrote three novels centred on a fictional character named Gonzo Davies, like him a No 8 and playing rugby in the valleys. He was always quick to praise the hospitality from Marley and his staff and also wrote two other books and after each interview was kind enough to sign a copy for me to give to a reader of our ‘PembrokeshireSport.co.uk’ web site.
 
Then there were the social evenings centred on rugby and as the local MC I knew that if Eddie Butler was a guest speaker then a successful evening was a certainty.



 

And a final thought from ‘Big Morgs’, a Saint through and through

 
He also raised much-needed funds to help three year old Tilly Morgan, a girl in St Davids who was very ill with Leukaemia, and showed what a professional speaker he was when confronted early on by a rude man intent on spoiling all the hard work done by Les James and others in organising the evening.
 
Eddie showed great calmness which rightly earned loud applause for the way he dealt with the moment – in what was a wonderful fund-raiser for that little girl. Small wonder then that Tilly’s dad Chris, a former St Davids rugby player, is still immensely grateful for the way that Eddie helped in that smashing night in The Bishops.
 
“He was amazing and we couldn’t thank him enough, and Tilly is now leading a full life thanks to such kindness – we as a family will be eternally gratefully to Eddie Butler and would like to pass on our condolences to his family at this awful time!”