A popular rugby player and former maths teacher who dedicated his life to helping others has died after testing positive for Covid-19.
Tributes have been paid to longstanding Pontypridd RFC fan, former Cilfynydd RFC player and retired secondary school teacher David Evans.
The 61-year-old from Pontypridd taught maths for more than 30 years at Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School and played for various rugby clubs in the 70s and 80s, including Cilfynydd RFC.
He died on May 26 after suffering a short illness and testing positive for Covid-19.
Mr Evans' daughter, Kathryn Evans, said: “He was an amazing father, he loved his family and his friends.
“Dad was always the person I went to with my problems. He always had an answer, and even if he didn't, I'd get a cwtch and a ' we'll sort something'.
“His passion for his job is what made me want to teach maths.
“His pupils were scared of his reputation as a teacher you went to when you’d done something wrong.
"But he was passionate about his job and teaching was one of the most important things in his life.
“Rugby was his life and he played for a lot of teams before I was born but he gave up playing rugby to focus on being a maths teacher.”
Hundreds of former pupils and colleagues have paid tribute to Mr Evans, who was also head of the school’s sixth form college.
Students from the classes of 2016, 2017 and 2018 have shared their memories of Mr Evans in a memorial booklet they created for Kathryn, her brother Rhys and their mother and Mr Evans' wife, Carolyn.
In the booklet, Hannah Bennett said: “Mr Evans was the kindest, most hardworking, supportive and inspirational teacher I have ever known.
“It is because of his enthusiasm for the subject that I am currently studying maths in university.
“He always managed to make people smile, students and teachers alike. He was an incredible individual and a credit to his profession.”
Craig Hughes added: “Mr Evans was a man who dedicated his life to helping people, to pushing people to be the best that they could be.
“Without him, many people would not have achieved what they did both in and outside of school, and for that I thank him.
“A lot of people would have been a bit scared of sir, however, there was no need to be. He was a man who cared and you would be hard pushed to find someone who cared as much as him.
Meg Davies said: “He was an amazing role model who believed in his students more than they believed in themselves.
“He saw everyone’s potential and pushed them to it because he wanted to see them succeed.”
Kathryn said Mr Evans' long-term ambition was to have the school ranked number one and in 2018, Bryn Celynnog was listed as the best school in Rhondda Cynon Taff by the Western Mail.
Mr Evans retired from teaching in summer of 2018 and had planned to travel, watch The British & Irish Lions and spend more time with family and friends.
Kathryn said: “He had planned his retirement for so long. He wanted to spend six months in New Zeland - but shortened this a bit when he realised how expensive it would be - and he wanted to watch the Lions play.
“He planned on spending more weekends away with my mum and more time with my brother in Derby, which is where he lives. He wanted a dog too, that’s something he’d always wanted to do.
“He actually ended up spending his retirement helping me renovate a house I bought. He did everything - every wall was painted by him and he fixed the floorboards in every room.”
In April Mr Evans was admitted to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital after falling ill and contracted Covid-19. He passed away on May 26 - the day after Carolyn and his 35th wedding anniversary.
As well as being a dedicated teacher and father to Kathryn and Rhys, rugby was a huge part of Mr Evans' life.
Kathyrn said: “Dad would always have rugby on constantly in the house. My granddad used to take him to games when he was a kid and then when my brother and I were little he would take us to games too.
“I remember he would miss my birthday parties because I was born slap bang in the middle of the Six Nations. He obviously massively made up for it, but it just shows how important rugby was.”
Mr Evans played for various rugby clubs, including University College Cardiff, Taffs Well RFC and Cilfynydd RFC, and was a longstanding member of the Pontypridd RFC community.
Paying tribute, Pontypridd RFC CEO and friend, Steve Reardon, said: “David and I first met in 1971 as pupils at Pontypridd Boys Grammar School and later became colleagues at Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School in the mid-1980s.
“In the intervening years, we became very good friends and spent winter Wednesday evenings advising referees from the vantage point of what was then an earthen bank, a stark contrast to the concrete covered terrace that stands at Sardis Road today.
“For many years David was a key member of Joe Smith’s very successful, Cilfynydd RFC team. During this period, Cilfynydd RFC won the Mid District Rugby Union Cup and the Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy.
“Following this success, David was awarded a coveted Mid District Rugby Union Cap and was a member of the District’s subsequent tour to Portugal. On a few occasions, he also played for Cross Keys RFC during their centenary year of 1985.
“Friendship aside, I know objectively that David was good enough to make it in what was then referred to as ‘first-class rugby’ with Pontypridd RFC.
However, David had an exceptional innate talent in the field of mathematics and he chose to put his professional career before that of rugby football which at the time was an amateur sport.
“When his playing days came to an inevitable end, he returned to the ‘Ponty fold’ and he and his wife Carolyn brought up their children, Rhys and Kathryn, as dedicated followers of Pontypridd RFC.]
"David was always ready to argue a point, in the true sense of the word and was the most ardent of competitors in everything that he undertook.
“He will be sadly missed by his peers in the Mid District rugby fraternity not to mention his wider circle of friends.”
Mr Evans’ friend of 40 years and fellow Cilfynydd RFC teammate John Wride described him as an “all-around great guy”.
He said: “We met back in the early 80s, we were both playing for Cilfynydd. We played together for a good five or six years and became very close friends and have been ever since.
“He was a very good player, he was very quick. He was on the wing and was very good over 20-metres. He trained very hard, it wasn’t a professional game back in the 80s but he could have taken it up another level.
“He was definitely one of the better players, and we had a very good team back then. He scored a lot of tries and he was very sociable.
“He played all the way through school and then went to play for Imperial College when he was doing his mathematics degree and then he came back to Pontypridd.
“He was great fun, he was a real character. He was always up for a laugh and he was very passionate about everything he did whether it be rugby, teaching or skiing on holiday.
“He retired quite young, he was only about 29 but he was already teaching by this point.
“He was a real family man, he was a great dad to Kath and Rhys. He was also an excellent teacher, he got both my children through their O-level and A-level maths.
“I saw him as a rugby player, a teacher and a dad and he was very passionate about whatever he was doing.
“He was an all-around great guy and I know he’ll be missed by a lot of people.”
