TRIBUTES have been paid to a committee member of the Horwich branch of the Royal British Legion.

David ‘Gilly’ Gilfillan, 57, died in late November.

He was walking to work in the early hours of the morning when he was involved in a medical incident.

North West Ambulance Service confirmed that they had received a call to Fox Street in Horwich at 5.51am on Friday, November 22.

They sent two rapid response vehicles and an ambulance but Mr Gilfillan died at the scene.

His funeral was held last week and his wife, Toni, spoke fondly of her late husband, who she described as the “life and soul” of any party.

She said: “He always tried to help anyone who was in trouble, he was an all round good guy.

“He loved his holidays but hated the cold — we could never go anywhere there was snow.

“When we bought a hot tub you could never get him out of it, he was always in there with the grandchildren.

“It was a big shock, it was very sudden but it would have been the way he wanted to go, he wouldn’t have wanted to suffer.”

Toni and Gilly met during their time in the Army, and would have been married 40 years in March.

The pair moved around Germany together before heading to Tidworth in 1987.

Mr Gilfillan left the military a few years later and they moved to Bolton, even though Gilly was a Scotsman, and Toni came from Somerset.

The chair of the Horwich Branch of the Royal British Legion, where Mr Gilfillan was a committee member, said: “Gilly’s presence will be sadly missed by us all.

“Our friend was an important part of our local Poppy Appeal, he was particularly proud of the schools around Bolton who raised thousands from the special children’s poppy boxes he dropped off and collected each year.

“Gilly would of [sic] been delighted to have known that his schools exceed last year's collections, again showing how much they cared for ex-service men and women, just like him.

“Gilly’s last act before he sadly passed away was to help organise Horwich’s Annual Remembrance Sunday Parade. This year’s, his last, was one of the most successful and well attended we have every had — he will be sadly missed next year, but not forgotten.

“Rest in peace Gilly, and stand down lad.”