36 replies to this topic

[rossd]

Thats so true Kenny

Quarry 2010.....

Still remember Deons face and smile when he pulled the short straw and had to share a room with Laity at the Pontypool Travel Lodge

Deon never had a bad word to say about anyone....Well apart from saying Sandy snored to loud and soaked the floor in the bathroom when he had to bunk with us the second night on Welsh trip

Top guy and will be sadly missed...Keep smiling buddie.

Ross

[bunny man]

My sadness canna be put into words, I only spoke to Deon a week or so ago and he was so looking forward to the WHFTA and the rounds of the UKAHFT in 2011.
We have all lost a great HFT shooter and a all round top bloke.
Will miss him so much.
RIP Deon, we will never forget you mate.

Stuart, Sean and Scott

[wabbitsworstnightmare]

I'm sitting here in total shock to hear of the passing of a truly great guy , I only knew Deon for a wee short time but considered him a friend and I will always remember him very very fondly , I shot with deon a few times in the comp's and had a damn good laugh each time we teamed up , I only passed PM's with him a week ago on Facebook and we wished each other happy new year and were both looking forward to shooting again soon , he was a TRUE abassador for the sport always with a smile on his face as everyone has already said , He'll be sorely sorely missed !
All my heart felt condolenses to his family .

RIP Deon Smith ....

Scott.......

[popsheep]

For the first time in our history MAD had a minutes silence before our shoot today .
Farewell to a friend you wont be forgotten.

[Photoguy2910]

Ian, that was a wonderful thing for you to do, thank you

[wraith]

Only had the privallage to meet Deon once at our first HFT Event, he won it! He was great shot, and we believe a great guy. Our sincere thoughts to his family and closest friends.

from all at NorthAyshire ARC.

[Greenwing]

BigEars, on 08 January 2011 - 04:23 PM, said:

... scampering round the HFT course with a big grin on his face.

Shocked and saddened to hear about this.
I only knew Deon from meeting him at HFTs but I think "Bigears" quote sums up what I knew of him quite nicely.
No matter what score he ended up with he was always smiling and joking.
A genuinely nice guy who'll be sadly missed.

[Numb Nut]

Rest in peace, Deon.

A familiar face at many of the HFT comps, radiating warmth in all directions with his smile.

This sad news has come as a real shock.

[Art]

It was a shock to hear about Deon, he was a great guy. My condolences to Deon's wife and family.

[bandito]

Just found out the very sad news of Deon's passing this morning.

I can't believe he's gone. I did a round of the HFT course at Auchterhouse with him last month. I had my newly aquired laser rangefinder with me, and we went round the course getting exact ranges with it. Deon jokingly said not to tell Steve (Cochrane) about our "homework" as he was looking forward to their next shoot around the course armed with his newly aquired info !

Deon was a very genuine guy and a great shot. It was a privilege to have met and shot with him. Lesley and I would like to convey our deepest condolences to Karen and the kids.


Paul.

TAGC.

[Ken]

At 19.06 on Friday 7th instant I opened an email from Deon's partner Karen asking me to call her. She informed me that Deon had died suddenly the previous day and she had been trying to contact his friends at the club. For obvious reasons she wanted to speak to someone rather than pass on the saddest of news via the impersonal medium of the email.

I passed on the news to Deons closest Friends within the club specifically Steve Cochrane who you all know through this website and Mark Devlin who was offshore at the time. I took the decision not to share the information beyond these few until one of us had spoken with Karen. Steve undertook to visit Karen and offer what assistance he and the club could provide. By now all of the Tayside members will know of Deon's passing.

Just this evening I hve been approached by a journalist from the local newspaper for a photograph but I am reserving judgement on this until it is verifed as OK with Karen. It is fortunate that one of our members is a keen photographer and he can provide photographs to Karen and the children and if deemed appropriate the Dundee Courier.This is all I can share with you at this time other than to say that TAC will be sending a club tribute but Karen has asked that indivdual tributes be in the form of a donation to Help for Heroes which as an ex soldier Deon held in highest regard.

Deon and I were not as close as he was with Steve and Mark but the age difference determined this. Nonetheless I considered Deon to be a very good friend and we shot together regularly on Wednesdays throughout the year.

As you may be aware Deon was vice chairman of TAC and come September he would have become Chairman. He had a lot of ideas for the club and wanted the time to concentrate on these and his shooting over the coming season otherwise he would have been installed as Chairman at the last AGM. Because of this he asked if I would accept nomination to the Chairman's role for the coming year as he knew that we were both on the same wavelength and would work together to drive the club forward throughout 2011. It remains my responsibility to my friend to ensure that his ideas are implemented and I will see that they are in so far as it is within my power to do so.

It has been suggested that the club put up a memorial trophy and this was well received so sometime this year you may see another open opportunity and appropriate silverware to honour the memory of one of the good guys.

Its not much I know but I have tried to say something about my friend that at the least introduces him to those who were not fortunate enough to share his company. I can see from the tributes on this website that he is sorely missed and his passing has shocked us all. But from one friend to another let me say on a personal note, farewell my friend, may you rest in peace.

Ken

[taygunner]

Very eloquently put Ken.
Deon will be sadly missed at the Club.

RIP

Ron

[Pie]

Only met Deon once back in March 2010 @ GARC and was a very pleasant person to meet and a great ambassador for TAC.

Very sad to hear of his passing and my sincere condolences go to his family in such tragic times

RIP

[IanT]

Sue and I would like to pass on or condolences to the family as well.
I had the privilege of shooting with Deon awhile back and we had a great day,

Deon will be sadly missed.



IanT and Susan

[wils]

Deon was a great guy how encouraged and helpeds other in the sport

My condolences to Deons wife and family.

Wilson

[Kenny]

Still in shock to be honest, but can i just say a what a nice day and a beautifull send off for a great guy!
Thanks to all from the shooting community who took the time out and made the effort to attend Deon's funeral! (you know who you are)
It was good to catch up with a great friends and show support to a what i can only describe as such a traggic loss.

Rgds
Kenny

[airrifle1234]

remembering the good days we shared at the club will never forget


ray