The funeral took place on Tuesday, May 10 of David Leighton Hughes at St. Mary’s Church, Tenby followed by cremation at Parc Gwyn Crematorium. bearers were Chris and Archie Hughes, Mark, Dan, Olly and Joe Worley. Eulogy was given by Chris Hughes and Anna Worley. Poems and readings were given by Archie and Tessa Hughes, Dan, Olly and Joe Worley.

Refreshments following the service were provided at Tenby Golf Club.

David is survived by his wife Dawn, sister Mary, children Tim, Chris and Anna, grandchildren Henry, Oliver, Tessa, Archie, Dan, Olly, Joe and great grandchild Finn.

Donations in memory of david, if desired can be made payable to: - the Paul Satori Foundation c/o funeral directors Messrs. W & MJ Rossiter & Sons Ltd, The Old Rectory, The Norton, Tenby.SA70 8AB

David Leighton Hughes

1938 – 2022

He was the youngest of the three children of Sydney and Olive hughes. born in 1938 at the onset of world war II he experienced food rationing for the first 12 years of his life. From the age of 8 he was educated in boarding schools, first in aberystwyth, then malvern college and finally, after winning an english-speaking union scholarship, in a top american secondary boarding school called shadyside academy in pittsburgh, pennsylvania.

at school he showed considerable promise in sport, captaining the football, rugby and cricket teams in aberystwyth and then the colts football teams at malvern from which he was selected to train at lilleshal under england coach walter winterbotham for the england schoolboys under 16 team. a football injury left him unable to play for 10 months and it was during this time that he took the oportunity to escape to london for three days of interviews and aptitude tests which unexpectedly won him the exchange student scholarship.it was to be one of the most memorable years of his life – shadyside academy attracted sons from wealthy families throughout the eastern seaboard of america and he was fortunate to visit the then senator for massachusets jack kennedy and the board of j.c.penny. he enjoyed a successful season in the shadyside school football team and set a new record for the mile in athletics.

returning from america at age 19 he was immediately called up for national service in the 1st battalion of the welsh regiment and after basic training in cardiff was commissioned 2nd lieutenant to serve in cyprus and libya.

following demob in 1959 his father invited him to train for the family business by attending a two-year management trainee course at harrods of knightsbridge. from 1961 until 2003 he fulfilled his career with t.p.hughes , working happily with his father and brother tom for the first 20 years before taking sole control in 1983. he took an active part in trade associations and became president of the national association of retail furnishers and chairman of the british shops and stores association. he was also british representative to the european federation of retail furnishers and was honoured by the furniture manufacturers to be appointed a liveryman of their Worshipful company and a freeman of the city of london.

in 1962 he had married jane davies, a schoolteacher and exceptional athlete. jane won over 60 caps as a welsh women’s hockey international and showed potential to become an excellent golfer. the marriage was blessed with three healthy children- tim, chris and anna. in 1974 the family was devastated by jane contracting a terminal cancer from which she suffered 10 months of painful illness before her death. the bereavement stopped him in his tracks and had a lifelong effect on his emotional wellbeing. he had served as round table chairman in tenby and area chairman for south west wales with other promotions leading towards the national chair – he now needed to focus on family and the business so his round table ambitions had to end.

locally he served four terms as president of Tenby Chamber of Trade, captain and later life president of tenby golf club as well as worshipful master of the tenby masonic lodge and director of kiln park estates. he was also privileged to experience six years as a non-executive director of the local nhs trust and more recently a four-year spell as chairman of the trustees of the tenby museum and art gallery.

in 1976 he was introduced to dawn mawdsley, a science scholar and stewardess with british airways and in 1977 they were married. from 1985 they enjoyed 29 happy years in begelly, where they made many new friends before moving back to tenby in 2014 to spend their most recent retirement at paxton court.