The passing of Rotarian Peter Wills was marked by a minute's silence by his colleagues at the Rotary Club of Narberth and Whitland recently.

His presence will certainly be missed by his colleagues, for Peter was a man of powerful personality, strong conviction and exemplary leadership qualities. If he was given a task you could be assured that it would be done properly. Peter was a 'black and white' man - there were no areas of grey and his powerful argument of a case was, for all of us, an excellent demonstration of clarity. It was an endearing aspect since there was no area for doubt and that made him a man who was very easy to understand. You knew where you were with Peter.

He was a man brimming with enthusiasm in everything he did and put himself wholeheartedly into any project in which he was involved. In 1992, soon after the overthrow of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu he, like many of us, was sympathetic to the plight of thousands of starving Romanian children suffering in appalling conditions. But unlike the majority of us, Peter decided to do something about it. With a small band of volunteers, he enthusiastically organised collections of clothes, food and other basic essentials. He and his colleagues acquired two lorries and this motley crew of three Rotarians, two ministers of religion and an artist set off for Romania and after a challenging journey successfully reached Bucharest with their life-saving cargo.

It was typical of a man determined to succeed - and lead - in the many tasks he undertook, not least as four times Mayor of Whitland. He was a chairman of several Rotary committees, president of the club in 1994 and in 1996 was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship - Rotary's highest award - by his Rotary colleagues in recognition of his huge contribution to Rotary. He was to be next year's president of Probus.

In recent years he was delighted to organise an annual Rotary Welsh Night with performances from local artists. In just two years he raised nearly £2,000 for the Rotary Foundation Charity.

Although born in London, where he lived for just a few weeks (a fact that he did not widely broadcast!), Peter was a passionate Welshman - and an enthusiastic champion of everything relating to Whitland. He had a mischievous sense of humour and never ceased to draw attention, at Rotary Club meetings and elsewhere, whenever Whitland Rugby Club won a game. It was especially pleasing to him if, simultaneously, Narberth had lost their own game. If the Borderers beat the Otters, it was a moment of ultimate ecstasy in which he revelled - at length!

Peter was a big man in every sense. A superb sportsman, he excelled at rugby and cricket in his early days, later at golf and more recently at bowls. In all these sports he had one aim - to win - a characteristic that he displayed in all aspects of his life.

Peter Wills was an enthusiastic Rotarian, but to all of us who knew him he was also a good and trusted friend. Rotarians everywhere will remember him with great fondness. Our thoughts at this time are with Josie, Wendy, Michael and their families.

Patrick Jones