Sweet memories of a busy beekeeper
Tributes have been paid to a community champion who died after a short battle with cancer.
Former Hunter Primary and Duncanrig Secondary pupil David Paterson died aged 58.
He was a familiar face across the East Kilbride and Strathaven area.
For the past two decades David was an active member of the Avon Angling Club and was a committee member of the Scottish Anglers National Association.
He was also a director and treasurer of the River Clyde Management Trust and would painstakingly restock the River Avon and maintain the environment around the rivers by repairing fencing, walkways, stiles and litter picks.
He also happily ran classes with others in the angling club to teach young anglers how to tie flies.
In 2014 he was nominated for South Lanarkshire Council’s community volunteer of the year for outstanding community service.
And he caused a buzz as the man behind Avondale Community Beekeepers, ensuring the local populace were informed about the importance of bees while establishing a number of hives across the area.
He was integral to the beekeepers’ winning Big Lottery bid and was often the first to volunteer to talk to local schoolchildren, with wife Rose and the bees in tow, and ensured local schools had the tools and resources to plant flowers and learn about bees.
The former paper merchant married Margaret Harris and the couple had two children, Michael and Marianne.
The couple later divorced and in his thirties David met Rose, whom he would marry in 1998. His family grew as he gained stepchildren Stephen, Mark and Paul.
He is described by friends as a “witty, well-read and intelligent man” who loved a good book, stargazing, Partick Thistle and nature.
He is survived by his mother, sister Lorna and brothers Colin and Bruce.
One fellow beekeeper said: “He was a believer that if you needed something done ask a busy person, which meant he often ended up with a ton of tasks to do.
“But it was human nature that Davy understood the best. With his wicked sense of humour he understood how to engage and involve people in projects, especially children and young people.
“Many fishing on the banks of the Avon first fell in love with the pastime when Davy took them for that first fishing trip.
“There are many young beekeepers donning suits and inspecting hives today thanks to his infectious passion for beekeeping.
“One story which sums him up was that of three young beekeepers who, upon losing a hive to wasps, collected £8.50 pocket money between them to save for a new colony of bees.
“Not only did Davy find the extra money from local businesses to cover the new colony, he kept the trio in the loop the whole time, saying they’d inspired him to sort it out.
“They felt pretty special, a skill Davy was great at: allowing everyone to participate.
“He was a big fish. Sadly, one that got away.”