UkeyDave

It is with the utmost sadness that I write to inform you of the passing of our dear friend Ukey Dave. His daughter, Charlotte inboxed me yesterday with the sad news of his sudden death on December 20th.

I have no further news than this. If I receive any more details, I will of course pass them on.



Edit: I have just heard that Dave died peacefully in his sleep from a previously undiagnosed heart condition, unlikely to have been connected to any other health issues he may have had.

The funeral service has been arranged for Monday 12th January at 2.30pm at:

Gilroes Crematorium
Groby Road
Leicester
LE3 9QG

Anyone who wishes to attend will be very welcome to do so.

If anyone wants to send a card or similar message of condolence, the address is:
c/o Charlotte Smith,
38 Tilbury Crescent
Leicester
LE4 9HH
UK

The Withers' family's own announcement can be found here:
WITHERS - Bereavement - Leicester Mercury Announcements

Please tell me this ain't true. Damn...I love that guy.
Tears, and a tune for my dear Mister Dave this morning.

Damn. Such a nice bloke. I'm lost for words here...

I'm so sad to hear this. I loved hearing his songs. We seemed to pick the same songs often.

this is his own description on youtube.......i will remember him fondly.

I play Ukulele and my name is Dave.

I picked up a Ukulele for the first time in May 2012 and now I struggle to put it down. I love to listen to all types of Uke players and experiment and learn from what I watch on You Tube. If you also play Ukulele on your channel - I will subscribe. If I'm not subscribed to you and playing Uke is your thing then let me know so I can put it right. Learning and improving my Ukulele playing is a great journey. Come join me - oh and don't forget to subscribe. ;-)

I'm shocked and surprised. It's way too soon for him to have gone. He will be sorely missed here.

Wow...and ouch. When I find the will to play again, I will pick up UkeyDave's reso in his memory. So sorry to hear he's passed on.

Oh, and here's my favourite Ukey performance.

I unfortunately did not know the guy but from his description he just seemed like an amazing person who really cared about ukulele and good friends. Rest in Peace.

Season 54. The first time we saw his face...so he could give me the bird.
Such a great take on this one.

This is sad beyond words. I had no idea. We corresponded some through the forum and he was a very encouraging and wonderful man. I will miss him.

It's hard to believe he is gone. He will be missed.

I am lost for words ,dumbfounded and saddened. Thanks Paul for letting us know, and love and wishes to Daves family. We have cherished memories of a fellow seasonista, i think next season should either be put aside for a week in respect or i think even better it should be a season to celebrate our pal the UkeyDave season, just a thought anyway love to you all and thanks for your friendhsip brothers and sisters xxx god bless ya ukeydave x

Oh! That's terrible news to end 2014 on. I never knew him personally, but I always got the impression that if we'd have met up in person we'd have been great muckers (mates). Please send my condolences to his family anyone who has access to them (Paul?) - Tell them he had another family in the Seasonistes and we are all mourning his loss today.

Let's get emotional... do you remember Dave's season?

wee_ginga_yin said:

Let's get emotional... do you remember Dave's season?

Click to expand...

How could I forget that season? It was my first introduction to Dave, and he seemed like such a great, heartfelt guy. This is terrible sad news. My sincere condolences to his family - I know he loved them very much.

Such sad, sad news. I met Dave at the Great British Ukulele Festival in Cheltenham. He was great company, we got on really well. Did a little video together. Met up again at GNUF in Huddersfield. A lovely man, we liked lots of the same music. Here's my favourite vid of his.....
Fabulous. So poignant. RIP Dave, I'll miss you. Sincere condolences to his family.

So sad. Wow. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to know him through UU and the Seasons. I celebrate his passion and his life.

Oh, so sad! Dave was one of the first people I connected with on the Seasons. We often chose the same songs (I still haven't done "Moon River", which he beat me to - maybe it's time) ... though in some cases (like "Fooled Around and Fell in Love", for Yacht Rock week, S113) we had a very different relationship to them. He made fun of that song, which was hilarious and made me laugh. I actually remember the song fondly and quite love it. Ever since I made that video, it's been a favorite of a few of us (well, two of us, anyway ) in our local jam group.

Dave and I first connected in Season 110, Art and Artists. He couldn't come up with a song he liked and had put out a request to the group. He didn't like any of the suggestions he got. Someone else from a different community had suggested Dan Bern's "Joe Van Gogh" for me - I love Dan Bern and like the song, but couldn't see me doing it. Before I even knew UkeyDave was searching for a song, he was the one I thought of ... it just struck me as a good match for him. I have no idea why.

I suggested it to him. He loved it, loved Dan Bern, did at least one more Dan Bern song after this one. Somehow I had picked up on enough of who Dave was by then, that I just had an intuitive feeling about him and this song. That was one of my best Seasons highlight moments ever, when I took a chance and he loved it ... and brought us this:



I started here in Season 84, so I just missed Emotional Week (Season 83). If I'd had a way to make videos then, I'd have been all over that one ... even though I'd only been playing for 3 weeks. Every time I hear someone mention it, I get a little pang of regret that I didn't check in sooner - I learned about the Seasons that week, but hadn't gotten around to checking it out.

Peace, love, ukuleles, and blessings on your next journey, Dave! Miss you.

I'm both gutted and taken aback, from our correspondence recently I knew he wasn't in the best of health lately but you just expect these things to pass and people to recover.
Thanks for conveying this very sad news Paul.
My thoughts are with his family.