Brian Goldsmith who died on Saturday morning. He had marshalled at the Easter Festival the previous evening.
Tribute by Ian Turnbull
The Manxsports world has been shocked by the sudden and untimely death of Brian
Goldsmith, aged just 58 years, a most popular member of Manx Harriers andIOMVAC.
The
youngest of three brothers, Brian grew up in Murrays Road, Douglas and was a champion
schoolboy swimmer and athlete. Off to college in1968, a civil service job in Manchester followed.
After marrying his beloved Sandie in 1972, rugby union was his sport up until
his return to the Island, complete with wife,
son and daughter in 1984.
He
immediately joined Boundary Harriers and quickly became an enthusiastic and
successful runner, despite spending most of his free time in those early years renovating
the family home in Glen Vine. Among his many achievements were his sub-60
minutes 10 miles and sub-3 hours marathon. Much as Brian enjoyed recording pbs,
his greatest athletic pleasures came from the camaraderie of his fellow
athletes, in particular the group Sunday morning training runs (and, more
latterly, walks) and driving to and from events, provided of course he had
someone to talk to!! Furthermore, a reflection of the many hours he spent on Douglas promenade as a lad, he was always happiest when
he was running in sight of the sea!
Early into
the new millennium several running injuries resulted in Brian turning to
race-walking, an activity he had not always appreciated as a runner! In typical
Brian fashion, he quickly immersed himself into the race-walking world and
enjoyed heel-to-toe as much as he had his running. More recently he looked
forward each week to his Tuesday evening training walks from the NSC with his
great pals, Dougie Allen and John Stubbs, although I think the sausage, chips
and beans that followed were part of the attraction! One of his most satisfying
walks was just six short months ago, when he finished the End-to-End in 8-
23-16, 3rd vet man in the 55 59 age category. So popular was Brian
that Sandie and Kate had to queue to get to kiss him on his arrival at the
Sound, but they loved to see his popularity!
Brian was
always one of the first to volunteer to help when not competing, indeed the
evening before his death he was on duty marshalling on Port Erin promenade (in
sight of the sea!) for the Easter Festival 10K run.
However, by
far his greatest joy was his beloved family, his wonderful wife Sandie, whom he
first dated when both were just 14 years old (having already fancied him for two
years, Sandie was overjoyed when, on their first meeting, Brian asked her to be
his girlfriend, love at first sight for both), son Robert and daughter Kate,
both of whom he adored and treasured as a doting Dad. No mean athlete herself,
Sandie (Parish Walk finisher in 2001) and Brian were so very much in love after
35 years of marriage and had plans to do so much following his planned
retirement in 2010.
A gentle,
kind and loving man, in the 23 years that I was privileged to know Brian I
never heard him say anything bad of anyone; he will be sorely missed by his
many, many friends (not only athletics but also civil service colleagues,
particularly in Customs and Excise, and the many friends he made through Marown
Church and through his most recent past-times, ballroom dancing and duplicate
bridge, having taken up the latter with me just four short weeks ago but, in
typical Brian fashion, loving every minute of it and even intending playing on
Easter Monday evening. Sadly it was not to be ..).
Our
heart-felt sympathy goes out to his precious girls Sandie and Kate and treasured
son Robert, brothers John and Syd, father-in-law Guy (Manx Radio Rentals),
brother-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews,
cousins and all the family. A truly lovely, lovely and loving man.
I would
like to place on record my own personal love and gratitude to Brian, Sandie and
family for their support, encouragement and love following my own illness and
the death of my dear wife one year ago, I dont know how I would have coped had
I not been embraced into the wonderful Goldsmith family. Au revoir Brian, you
will never be forgotten.
Finally, a message from Sandie, Robert and Kate
Brian is irreplaceable, he has left a huge void
in our lives, he lives on in our hearts, nobody can take our special memories
away, we have so many happy ones. His unconditional love is sorely missed. We
plan to emulate Brian and stand tall for him. He was so true, straight and
honest, very loving and his heart was open to everyone. He was always the same.
We believe that he is in heaven and that we
will meet again one day; what a reunion that will be! Meanwhile we have roles
to play in this life and we are gaining strength from God. Brian died suddenly
but peacefully, we have many blessings. Many thanks to Ian for writing such a
moving tribute. Many thanks also to family and friends, too many to be named
individually. Please be comforted that you all played a part in makingBrian a happy and contented man. He loved all
the affection he received, we used to joke about the hardship of walking and
working with his girls. He will be sending big hugs to you all. Thank you to
Murray for the website, Brian used to log on to it every day, it gave him much
pleasure; also for the lovely true to life photo of Brian in Kirk Michael in
last years End-to-End (no wonder hes smiling, hes just had a kiss from
Sandie!).
If Brian had written this, it would have been
in bullet points!
