Thanksgiving for the life of Steve Williams, 57, at St Bartholomew’s Church, Royal Wootton Bassett, was enhanced by music, performed by Hannah Stone, harpist to Prince Charles, her husband Gary Griffiths, a noted Welsh baritone and Ross Brennan, a professional bass trombonist who studied with Steve’s daughter Michelle at Guildhall School of Music.

Mr Williams’ widow, Carole, said, “So many people attended and we received so many cards with such lovely words; we would like to thank everyone for their support and for their kind donations to benefit Prospect Hospice and to provide a bench in Steve’s name at the rugby club.”

Mr Williams was born in Chester in 1956. He delighted in his Welsh heritage and rugby, being passionate about all sports and outdoor life.

He was five when his parents took him and his younger brother to live at Weymouth, where he met his wife, Carole, at the grammar school and later as a fellow student at South Dorset Technical College. Their romance began just before Mr Williams’ 18th birthday, and they married on June 24, 1978.

Mr Williams began training in accountancy then got a job in Dorchester training as an articled clerk but went to work at the Halifax. On promotion, to work in Torquay, the couple lived at Paignton where, in 1986, he became the proud father of Michelle. In 1987 promotion took him to Swindon and the family moved to Wootton Bassett on carnival day. From then on, carnivals featured Mr Williams and family in fantastic fancy dress.

Mr Williams co-organised Wootton Bassett’s first Rugby Club Ball and was a member of the Round Table. The birth of sons Christopher in 1989 and Matthew in 1992 completed the happy family. After injuries forced him to stop playing rugby, he coached junior players for a decade. A pinnacle of achievement was their team’s triumph at a regional tournament in France.

Mr Williams was fun-loving and sociable. Even faced with death, his joie de vivre never gave way to bitterness or despair.