Tributes paid to 'selfless' and 'influential' former Pioneer editor

Phil Hartley-Williams died in the early hours of Boxing Day (December 26) at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.

It is understood the father was battling COVID-19.

As well as working as editor of the Pioneer during a journalism career spanning 42 years, Phil was a keen musician; he was a member of the Colwyn Bay Ukulele Group and the group Ukelele Party.

He was in bands from the age of 14, spent some time as matchday announcer for his beloved Colwyn Bay Football Club, and also worked on the shop floor at Kwik Save.

Phil, who was in his 70s, was also involved in setting up the annual Colwyn Bay Uke-A-Bay festival and had spent roughly the last three years presenting on Bayside Radio.

He was known as ‘Phillydog’ at the community radio station.

Phil performing at the Christmas Pops in Rhyl 2017. Photo permission granted by Phil Micheu

Phil looked after the music and presented an afternoon show from 4-6pm every weekday, as well as the ‘Monday Beat’ programme.

He is survived by his wife, Sue, his four children, David, Peter, Laura and Sarah, and his four grandchildren.

His daughter, Laura, described him as a “kind and caring husband, dad, grandad, brother, uncle and friend”.

She said: “Family was everything to my dad. His greatest passions in life were his family and music. He couldn’t have made his family feel any more loved.

“He was married for 48 years to Sue Hartley-Williams; they adored each other and did everything together.

“They had eight happy years of retirement together - cycling, holidaying, walking and spending time with family.”

Photo: Laura Hartley-Williams

Bob Hewitt, a former press photographer, had been friends with Phil since they were teenagers, having got to know him while playing in bands before working with Phil when he joined North Wales Press Agency as a reporter.

Bob said the news of Phil’s death left him “heartbroken”, and added what a gifted musician and true friend he was, having kept in regular contact with Phil every day while he was in hospital.

Bob said: “We were both in bands when we were teenagers. That’s how we met, because we used to perform at the same gigs occasionally and bump into each other quite a lot.

“His band was The Informers, and our band would often play alongside or support them, because they were a bigger name than we were.

“A short time later, in 1967, I started working at North Wales Press Agency in Prestatyn as a press photographer, and a few months later, Phil joined us as a reporter.

“We went on many assignments together. Our friendship bonded when I was about 15 and carried on for a lifetime.

“As a musician, he was really talented. He could have got a tune out of a vacuum cleaner. He could play the saxophone, guitar, keyboard, ukulele; if it had strings or keys, Phil could play it, and he was a great soul singer.

“I learned so much from Phil because he had an encyclopaedic knowledge of music. He knew who all the good bands were, who maybe other people didn’t know about. That carried on right through his life, and I used to listen to his shows on Bayside.

“We were friends for 56 years, and all through this dreadful time that he’s been in hospital, we were messaging each other every single day.

“I thought he was coming home because he was so buoyant; his usual cheerful, funny self. Just on Christmas Day, we were exchanging messages and he said he was feeling so much better, and then the next day, he had died.

“I was expecting to hear from him that day saying that he’d been discharged, but the absolute shock of finding out that he had died just completely floored me and my wife, because Phil was the saxophone player in my wife’s band as well in the 1970s.

“Phil was part of our lives. It’s collectively hit a big group of us very, very hard, and all of our thoughts are with his wife, Sue, his kids, grandkids, and his colleagues.

“He absolutely loved his family, and I just can’t imagine what Sue and his children are going through. He was a good guy; we never had a cross word in 56 years or fell out over anything.”

Photo: Laura Hartley-Williams

Emlyn Roberts, former editor of Pioneer and North Wales Chronicle, said:  “Journalists and friends from all over North Wales are still in shock over Phil's passing.

“The comments made show the very high regard people had for him.

“He was a talented and tenacious journalist, but above all, he was a gentle, fun-loving man who lived for his wife, Sue, and family.

“Phil and I both went to St Asaph Grammar School in the 1960s - his stories about the brutal teaching methods used then were hilarious.

“It was a pleasure working alongside Phil - a laugh and a joke, or the odd impression.

“He got on with the job in hand, but always had a mischievous twinkle in the eye and a zest for life.

“Music, radio, football, quizzes, charity work... Colwyn Bay will miss this lovely man.”

Simon Wynne, operations and content director at Bayside Radio, said: “Phil was such a wonderful, selfless man who would put his community first before his own interests.

“When I was 16, Phil very kindly invited me to the Pioneer to join him over a summer and work in the newsroom, and that’s how I came to know him many years ago.

“He inspired me to get a career in the media. It was his influence that really gave me the hunger and passion to start off, and I owe him a great deal of gratitude for what he did for me.

“He was such an influential man; I would have not got into the BBC or had a career in commercial radio if it wasn’t for Phil giving me my first break.

“When Bayside first went on air, to help community groups get word out about the support they were offering during the lockdowns, Phil offered up over 20 hours of his free time every week to broadcast, inform and entertain.

“We all loved him dearly and are still trying to come to terms with his loss.”

Phil playing the ukelele. Photo: Laura Hartley-Williams

Former colleague Elwyn Edwards gave a moving tribute to a "true friend".

He said: "The news of Phil's death was a devastating blow to all those who worked so closely with him over the years.

"We shared the ups and downs of newspaper production, but at no time did he lose his superb sense of humour or, indeed, his honest perception of bringing the news to the community he served in Colwyn Bay and the surrounding districts.

"I will miss him personally as a true friend, and I know I speak for all his former colleagues when I say the newspaper industry has witnessed the loss of a true stalwart."

Jez Hemming, central area communications officer at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, worked with Phil during his time at the Pioneer.

Jez recalled what a “kind”, “funny” and “intelligent” man Phil was, and also highlighted the important impact Phil had on his journalism career.

He added: “Phil was my editor at the Pioneer for almost three years at the beginning of the millennium. Working with him was a laugh a minute.

“He encouraged me and gave me the confidence to be a journalist who asked searching questions. We did the work, but he made the office such a fun place to be.

“His anarchic humour and ability to highlight the ridiculousness of life was probably summed up by his love of The Simpsons.

“Whenever he received an email his computer would scream ‘The mail is here! The mail is here!’ in the voice of Homer.

“It drove us crazy at times, but it also broke us into fits of laughter at stressful moments.

“He loved music – he was a talented musician - and we would have long chats where he would articulate his incredible knowledge and love for all kinds of sounds.

“After I left, he kept up with my career and often sent me encouraging messages.

“When we bumped into each other, there would be a Simpsons reference, and usually a tear or two of laughter.

“He was a kind man. He was a funny man and an intelligent man, who cared deeply about the things which matter in life. To him it was family, music and, very probably, The Simpsons.

“He brought joy to the world and a little of it passed on with him when I heard he had died.”