Wednesday 31 December 2014

Richard Godfrey, 1949 - 2014

We only knew Richard for some 8 years, but in that short time the warmth of his personality and his generous friendship came to mean a great deal to Alison, Sam, Emma and I.  His pots were miraculous, their vibrant colours and zinging graphics becoming a permanent - or so we thought - and much loved feature of both galleries, bringing joy to so many.


But it was Richard himself who was special. Memories of sitting in his seemingly always sunny studio talking over coffee about friends, music and art while he continued to work, staying with him and Chris, and the wonderful array of family and friends he introduced to us will last forever. We count ourselves extraordinarily lucky to have known him.

And we were amongst so many. To see the church in a far corner of Devon bursting at the seams with those who wished to mark and celebrate his life came as no surprise - a fitting reflection of the generousity of his spirit. The tributes on social media are moving, personal and exceed anything I have seen before. How one man can have contributed so much to so many lives is humbling.

We will really miss him as will so many others. Very much thinking of all his family and friends - but assume and hope they took as much away from the service as we did.