Dave, 55, passed away in his sleep from a heart attack in the Gambia last Thursday. Daughter Amy Osborne, who opened the shop on Saturday before a two-week break to allow the family to recover from the shock, said “it means so much” to see how well-loved he was.
She promised to reopen the shop in Dave’s memory and keep the family business going. Amy, 33, said: “There are flowers just everywhere here and I must have received hundreds of cards today. It means so much to us. It is so nice to know he was so loved. Everybody has been full of such kind words.”
She added: “He wasn’t just a butcher he was a friend to so many people around here.
“He was beautiful, generous and kind and not one person has ever had a bad word to say about him.” Dave died on a return holiday with his wife Jo to Gambia, a country he fell in love with on an unforgettable trip last year. Amy said his generous streak shone through after he met a fruit seller on the beach there last year and ended up offering to pay for her twin daughters to attend school.
He also gave all his clothes away to a man who asked if Dave could give him just one T-shirt. Amy said: “My dad always said he would never go to the same country twice on holiday as there are so many amazing places to see. “But it made such a big impression on him. He met some amazing people who literally had nothing and his kindness there was just an example of what he was like.”
She added that his death was a big shock to the family as Dave was fit and healthy and had ran the Bristol 10k last year and was already training for the next. Amy also promised to reopen the butchers exactly how it was before, in memory of her father, as soon as the family were ready. They opened for one day on Saturday and will be shut for approximately two weeks.
Dave’s grandson Jack, 15, had recently started working at the butchers, making it three generations employed at the shop.
Amy said: “The idea is everything will remain the same when we come back. We have all learned so much about how to run the business and how to treat people through him. We know it is exactly what he would have wanted.”
Author: Louis Emanuel
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