A fine young man, lost to us.

[Maggi Young]

It is with the  greatest sadness that I must inform you of the passing of Forumist David Quinton, from Cambridgeshire.
David has died after a long battle with illness, faced with fortitude and with his thoughts being not for himself but ever for the feelings of his dear family.

It is always a sad thing  when a vigorous young person loses his life far too early and I am sure there will be no-one in this circle who will not be distressed to learn this news.
 
A fine young  man  with so much still to contribute to society, we will feel David's loss here as an enthusiastic grower of  galanthus, always happy to discuss his favourite flowers and interact with other 'galanthophiles' personally and in these pages.



John Finch and David Quinton at the RHS Show in London- Tuesday 14th March 2012

David was fortunate to have the support of his loving family, in particular his wife Katherine and his precious son, James and while he has been sustained by their love through his illness, it is to them that we must now turn our thoughts and good wishes, to offer them our condolences and support through these sad days.

David was pleased to have been able to publish his very own snowdrop book (as mentioned earlier in the Galanthus pages http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=7687.msg248294#msg248294) - he said as "something for his family to remember him by" and I believe it was a project that was therapeutic for him to work on when he was so ill.  Now there is a tangible reminder of his love for the little white flowers of spring, and of his dedication to his loved ones in producing the book.
Young James may not grasp the full import of this now, but in years to come I trust it will serve as a fine memorial to his Father.

David was bright, intelligent and was fun to correspond with. The death of such a person at a young age is beyond comprehension for all his many friends.

We can only imagine the terrible loss felt by Katherine, James and the rest of David's family but there is some comfort that he was able to pass peacefully away on Monday afternoon, in his own home, with his devoted family around him.

His much loved wife Katherine has asked that this news be passed on to you all.




The beautiful snowdrop named by David  for Katherine and James.

 Brian Ellis has said of the book: 

In it David shares with us 30 of his favourite snowdrops and tries to explain their appeal to him for the edification of his family. It is illustrated with his own marvellous photographs and I hope he doesn't mind me sharing a page with you which shows a discovery of his named after his wife and son.  It's certainly a book that I will treasure, all the more for the fact that one he describes was found when David King, John Finch and I were with him at Snowdrop Acre.

David will be truly missed and we send our kindest condolences to all his family. 

[David Nicholson]

How sad. I never had the pleasure of meeting David other than through these pages but he came across as an immensely likeable and knowledgeable young man who was always willing to share his interest and knowledge with others. He will be sadly missed here and my heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

[Mavers]

I'm sorry to say I never knew David personally.

It is so very sad to see someone so young lose their fight for life.

Thank you for posting this sad news Maggi.

Mike

[Martin Baxendale]

Very, very sorry to hear this. Thanks for letting us know, Maggi.

[mark smyth]

Maggi has said it really well.

I'll say no more except I met him many times and yes he was a great guy.

[Michael J Campbell]

Very sad to hear about the death of David, my sincere condolences to his wife and family.

[angie]

So sad, I never knew him personally but when I hear of someone so young losing their life it makes me really sad.

Angie

[Alan_b]

I got to know David through his posts on the forum, met him briefly in person a few times, would have liked to have got to know him better - but now never will.

[johnw]

I have tried to write this note several times.  Let it just be said that although we never met David he was always kind and generous with his time and knowledge.   Over the past year his paramount concern was for his young boy and his wife.  His emails during this period touched me deeply.  We have lost a dedicated and talented young man who will be missed by the many who so admired him.

We will treasure his beautiful book, a fine tribute to this passionate plantsman.

johnw

[Lina Hesseling]

This is very sad news indeed.
It is a tragedy when someone dies in this young age.
My thoughts are with his wife and his son.

Lina.

[John Aipassa]

My thoughts and sympathy goes to his wife and young boy.

As for David? He walks with God now. I can't imagine a better place to be.

[loes]

Very sad to hear this news.
My condolences to his family and friends.

[Brian Ellis]

I first met David through the forum, one of many friendships that have been made, I had posted a picture of Galanthus ‘Three Ships’ and David sent me a pm asking where I had obtained it.  Fortunately for him I had chipped it and sent him some two year old chips which he grew on.  He repayed the favour several times by collecting snowdrops for me when he was whizzing around the country (for work of course) and visiting nurseries and growers as he went. So began a seasonal correspondence and his emails were always a pleasure to receive and quite often very amusing.

He and Katherine came over to see my snowdrops and we met up at several snowdrop events notably the Glen Chantry Snowdrop Days when we met up with John Finch; and a visit to Ann Borrill’s followed by the Greatorex garden where we all found some interesting snowdrops, his find being pictured in his book.  Those were the first of quite a few meetings on snowdrop visits and it was always good to see him at events and catch up with the latest snowdrop news.

His illness struck and his attendance wasn’t always possible, but he remained an active member of the forum, and we often kept each other up to date; and this spring, although he was hospitalised for a large amount of the time, you always knew when he was getting on better as you could see that he had logged on and been following the news on the forum.  It was good to see that Katherine had persuaded him to go down to the RHS halls this March, it was very tiring for him but he was pleased to have made the effort. 

Producing the book was a marvellous project to help through his illness and to leave as a legacy, like John I shall treasure my signed copy.  One can only hope that his son James will grow up to be like his father, certainly his enjoyment of football was a source of great pride to David.  Up until a few weeks ago we were still talking about swapping snowdrops which he might have enjoyed seeing this Autumn and Spring next year, sadly it was not to be and he will be sorely missed.

[Lesley Cox]

So very sad, and incomprehensible to others whether we believe in a loving God or whether we don't. I would like to add my condolences to  the others here, for Katherine and James and from the far south, add the Maori words, Kia kaha - Stay strong.

[Oakwood]

very sad  - my condolences for family........... as we say here Пусть земля ему будет пухом....