Family pay tribute to Moresby parish councillor, David Coward, 71

David Coward, 71, died peacefully at his home in Moresby last month following a short battle with cancer.

The Moresby parish councillor was the driving force behind a well-publicised fight to have a huge drainage pond filled back in after it was created without planning permission next to the village play park.

David Coward fought to have a huge drainage pond in Moresby filled back in after it had been created without planning permission next to a children's play park (Image: Newsquest)

David’s wife Lesley said: “He would do anything for anybody. If he thought something wasn’t right, like the pond, he would fight for it.

“He did lots of jobs as a parish councillor but the biggest thing was the pond. He really didn’t want that pond next to the kids’ play park. He was very fearful of a child getting hurt.

David Coward with his wife, Lesley (Image: Family handout)

“He was still a parish councillor and working on things in the background. He was still sending emails, even from his hospital bed.”

David was born and bred in the village of Moresby and grew up at Walkmill Bungalows. He attended Quay Street School and then St Begh’s Junior School in Whitehaven and then studied at Workington Technical College.

David Coward with his wife, Lesley (Image: Family handout)

He trained as an electrician and worked at Sekers in Whitehaven, where he completed his apprenticeship. In 1975, he began working as an electrician at Sellafield.

He and Lesley were married in February 1976 at St Begh’s Church in Whitehaven and moved to Dent Road. They had two daughters – Kerry Jayne, who sadly died in 2001, and Claire.

David Coward was 'family orientated' and would 'do anything for anybody' (Image: Family handout)

David enjoyed walking and liked to go out with his two grandsons, Leo and Isaac.

Lesley said: “Life was a bit on hold when Kerry died. In 2006, Leo came along and gave him a new lease of life. He would even miss a Whitehaven match to walk the baby in his pram.

He was familiar face in the village of Moresby, where he would walk for miles with his whippet (Image: Family handout)
“Lots of people remember him as the man who walked for miles with a Silver Cross coach build pram. Everybody knew who he was.

“His happy place was Lapland. We went four times. He loved it. If he was happy, we were happy.

David Coward on holiday with his family in Lapland, which was his 'happy place' (Image: Family handout)

“He did everything for us. He was very family-orientated. He was still like a kid – he would go off with the boys and build camps and go panning for gold in the beck. They loved it.”

Claire said the family had been inundated with messages, cards and flowers since her dad’s death. She added: “It’s quite overwhelming for him to have made such an impact on so many people.”