David John Fasey - Wellington 41 Club
DAVID JOHN FASEY – 1940-2023
It is with great sadness that Wellington 41 Club announces the death of David Fasey. David passed away peacefully at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, on 11 May 2023 after a long illness bravely fought.
David Fasey joined Round Table in Chippenham, Wiltshire, in December 1970 and the following February was transferred by Lloyds Bank to Truro, Cornwall, where it was more convenient to join Falmouth Round Table. Three years later he was in Tiverton Table, in Devon, before returning to Truro and on this occasion transferred to the local club before joining Truro 41 Club in 1981.
David moved to Wellington, Somerset, in December 1983 when he was appointed the manager of the Wellington branch of Lloyds Bank. He served in the Wellington branch for seven years before being offered the opportunity to take early retirement, which he gladly took in January 1991, marking the end of a career with Lloyds Bank that spanned more than 34 years.
Not long after taking early retirement, David turned his hand to a new venture and established a residential letting agency. The nine years he spent building and running the business took him through to full retirement in 2000.
David joined Wellington 41 Club in 1984. He was elected 41 Club Treasurer at the AGM in April 1998, a post he retained for the next 24 years, only stepping down this year when his illness prevented him from taking an active part in the Club’s affairs. Even during his year as Chairman (2009-2010) he insisted on retaining his role as Treasurer.
During the Club’s Chairman’s Supper in March 2019 David received a phone call informing him that tests and scans confirmed he had lung cancer as well as various other secondary tumours and he must report to the local hospital immediately. A serious choice to be made; a night in hospital or to continue with an evening of fellowship with friends. “A no-brainer”, as he said later, “I had paid for a meal and was going to enjoy it”. He reported to the hospital the following morning.
For the next four years, through regular “Updates”, David kept his friends fully informed of events and his treatment, much preferring we heard the facts straight from the horse’s mouth rather than through the Chinese Whispers of social media.
The Club’s 2023 AGM was held on 15 April and David was determined to deliver his last report as Treasurer personally. He arrived immediately after the meal but just in time to enjoy a pudding snaffled from a passing sweet trolley. Positioning himself where he would be heard by all those in attendance, he delivered a moving account of how he first learned of his illness and of his subsequent treatment. Then, in typical David Fasey Treasurer mode, gave a full, detailed report on the state of the Club’s financial affairs; closing with the recommendation that Club annual subscription should not be increased until next year.
This news was greeted with great acclaim! Little did we realise that would be David’s last public appearance as he would pass away a few weeks later.
- David will also be long remembered by the many other local organisations he was involved with. Not one to sit on the side-lines, he immersed himself in everything he did, He was a genuine team player and proud to be an active member of the local community.
Probably his most prominent work was with the Rotary Club of Wellington which he joined in 1986 and served until his death. He held two terms as President (1994-95 and 2011-12) and in May 1997 he took over the position of Treasurer where he remained in post for the next 25 years. In 1994 he was appointed Chairman of the Wellington Rotary Housing Association, a Club project providing sheltered housing accommodation in 50 units in two properties in the town. In March 2011 he negotiated the transfer of the business to Abbeyfield U K. He remained active in Rotary to almost the very end.
We in Wellington 41 Club will miss his unwavering support, his meticulous attention to detail, his wise counsel, his dry sense of humour and for just being David.
Rest in peace old friend.
Ken Atherton
Hon Secretary
Wellington (Somerset) 41 Club
2 June 2023
