Tributes have poured in for a much-loved rugby club stalwart following his sudden death at home in Guisborough.
Dave Newstead, former chairman and president of Guisborough RUFC, was described as a “true gent” by friends, while his two sons paid tribute to their “always busy” and beloved dad.
Retired nursing officer Mr Newstead passed away suddenly aged 76 after suffering head injuries following a fall near the stairs at his home.
He was discovered by police on Monday, January 19, when a neighbour raised the alarm after noticing the lights had been on in Mr Newstead’s home since teatime the day before and that he hadn’t been seen.
Dad and grandad Mr Newstead was vice-chairman of the rugby club at the time of his death.
Recently retired treasurer of the club and a good friend of Mr Newstead for around 30 years, Malcolm Oyston, also of Guisborough, said: “David will obviously be very sadly missed at the rugby club. He’s left a huge hole in my life and in the club. There’ll be nobody else like him.
“He devoted a lot of time and energy to the club, and he was the life and soul of the party. He was also a very knowledgeable man.
“He told it like it is - that was Dave. He spoke his mind and he was well respected for it.”
Others offered their condolences through social media site Twitter.
The club’s groundsman, Ian Giddings, said: “Sad news with the passing away of Guisborough stalwart and past Chairman Dave Newstead.
“They don’t make ‘em like him anymore.”
Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Tom Blenkinsop, said: “Very sad to hear the news. Thoughts and prayers with his family and friends.”
Mr Newstead’s son, Richard, 47, said his dad’s death had come as a shock to the family but that he would be remembered by many.
Richard said: “He couldn’t go anywhere without meeting somebody he knew.
“He was born in York in 1938 and trained to be an electrician, but was then called up for National Service.
“He only got about six months in before he got a stomach ulcer.
“He was taken to the Friarage Hospital and met my mam there - she was the nurse caring for him. They got married in 1965.
“It was her who persuaded him to go into nursing and he did his training there at the Friarage.”
Mr Newstead later worked for many years at Hemlington Hospital, then at South Cleveland Hospital, now known as James Cook University Hospital, before retiring at the age of 55.
After wife Wendy’s death in 2004, Mr Newstead threw himself into his hobbies.
Eldest son Paul, 48, said: “It was his way of taking his mind off it, I suppose. He was always quite sporty, playing football, rugby and cricket at school.
“The rugby club was a big part of his life. It’s thanks really to his friends at the rugby club who kept him so active. It was his second home.
“We always said he had a better social life than we did!”
Richard, a lorry driver who lives with wife Tracey and their two children Jack, 12, and Amy, 14, said: “He also fished and would often take some of the younger members of the rugby club fishing. He had a lot of time for other people and would always stop to talk to people.
“He also played dominoes and collected stamps. Over the last year or so he’d taken Jack to the philatelic club, and he used to take my daughter to play rugby.
“He retired at 55, and lived life to the full.”
Mr Newstead was president of the Redcar and Cleveland Philatelic society and was also a member of the Middlesbrough society.
At an inquest into Mr Newstead’s death held yesterday, acting senior coroner for Teesside, Clare Bailey, recorded the death as an accident, with a medical cause of head injury including a subdural haematoma and subarachnoid haemmorhage linked to the fall.
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