Sporting stalwart mourned
A GOLD Coast grassroots sporting stalwart will be remembered as a generous, community-minded larrikin after his unexpected death.
Runaway Bay Seagulls Seniors’ Rugby League Football Club vice-president Ray Patrick Joseph Warwick was just 44 when he died of a heart attack on May 18, on the way to one of his son’s football games.
He leaves behind wife Kim and two young sons, Joel, 16, and Marcus, 8.
Social media was flooded with condolences for “the club man.”
Close friend and Runaway Bay Rugby League Old Boys Association president Steve Boswell said Mr Warwick‘s death would leave a huge void in the local football code.
Mr Warwick was also secretary for the Runaway Bay Rugby League Old Boys Association and was heavily involved in Oztag at Labrador.
He also coached some of the junior footy teams.
“Ray was one of the world’s nice guys, he couldn’t do enough for anybody,” Mr Boswell said.
“He had cancer and internal organs missing … and only had one kidney, but he still ran around with us.”
He remembered Mr Warwick as a bit of a larrikin, saying a recent photo taken for the Old Boys Association showcased his cheeky sense of humour.
“He has his socks down and the clown has his hand on the knee of the next person,” he said of the attempted professional photo. “He was an undeniably special guy.”
Mr Warwick also ran a landscaping business employing senior football members, as well as younger sporting men, which has since been closed.