A family tribute for Rowan Day

Following the tragic death of Rowan Day on 3 November 2022, his family have asked us to share a tribute to him. 

Rowan died following a collision on the A151 Corby Road, Grimsthorpe while riding his motorbike. 

Today is the day that has been dreaded for the past two years despite the sense of relief that the legal proceedings have now concluded as today is the day we are forced to move on.

No-one can truly understand the emotional struggle this has ever caused having lost a singular true soul mate, the father to a loving son and grandad to a beautiful baby granddaughter. Life can and will, never be the same for any of the family.

Life in general has lost a truly beautiful man who can be best described as a pillar of strength and the gentlest of giants most of all to his family, to all his friends and even those that he met consequentially at work or in his daily routines whether he was out riding his bike or walking in the village.

Rowan who was 63-years-old was a loving husband for 40 years having met his wife Claire 42 years ago when they worked together at a hotel in the Lake District. The story is one of first love and true romance. They have been together ever since.

During their wonderful marriage they had a son, Alex, their only child. Alex and his father had the perfect relationship that a father and son should have and Alex has grown up in his father’s mould.

As a family they were strong and loving with Alex having had the rare benefit of his parents staying together in a very loving and concrete relationship that demonstrated to him the importance of a having a strong, stable loving family. Alex has gone on to marry and now lives in Aberdeen with his wife and they have added to the family with a beautiful girl, Maya who is now only three years old.

Rowan was over the moon at being blessed with a granddaughter and as all grandads do, he doted on her sharing the love the family have grown up knowing. That was Rowan all over, a man dedicated to family and the importance of solid foundations. He was the key stone to his family and his loss has left a void that can never be filled. This love extended to not only his immediate family but also to his mother in law (Joan) and his sister in law (Sandra) both of whom were considered immediate family.

As a friend, Rowan, was someone that everyone loved to be friends with. He was just one of those people everyone warmed to. He was a reliable, genuine and an honest person who people were naturally attracted to. He was so calm and compassionate, the sort of person that people trusted immediately.

His social life mainly existed of being an upstanding member of his village community in the village of Irnham especially in the local Pub (The Griffin). So much so that the whole village rallied around Claire on discovering the tragic circumstances of his death and both Irnham and Corby-Glen flew their respective flags at half-mast on the day of his funeral. Since his death Claire has had to move to be near her sister and mother in Norfolk as the village is so synonymous with Rowan. Despite that Claire is considered a huge part of the village and has been welcomed back as though she never left. This describes the strength and loyalty the village bestowed upon Rowan and Claire and the warmth they are considered with.

Rowan died needlessly and tragically whilst doing what he loved so much. He was a very accomplished capable motorcyclist and he loved it as a hobby and as his mode of transport to commute to work. He had two bikes, one of which was his work horse for getting to and from work but his other was the bike he cherished, his ‘green beasty’, a ZZR 1400 he adored and rode with the utmost respect and enjoyment.

For Claire to sell this bike was like parting with a part of Rowan, but the amount raised has been a dedication for the future to his beautiful Granddaughter who will one day benefit from it in the knowledge that it was from her loving Grandad.

This is a testament to the sort of man Rowan was and a fitting epitaph that he would have been so proud of knowing his Granddaughter would have benefitted from something that made him so happy.

Losing Rowan has been the saddest most upsetting event that Claire has experienced and nothing will ever come close to explaining the heart felt loss that she, her son and other family members will ever endure.

The world is very much a worse place without him and it has lost a true gent of a man who is irreplaceable in so many ways.