WARM tributes have been paid to a former policeman and mayor of Llandudno following his death.
Jim Roberts, affectionately known as “Big Jim”, died peacefully at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor at the age of 78 on Saturday, October 29.
He is survived by his wife, Menna, his children Nia and Osian, his six grandchildren, and his great-grandson (known as “Little Jim”).
Born in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Jim left school at 15 and went to work at the Llechwedd slate quarry.
When he was 19, he joined North Wales Police, and was posted initially to Pwllheli, where he met his future wife, Menna, who used to work in a shop a couple of doors down from the police station.
After they married, they moved to Morfa Nefyn, where he was the village policeman from 1968 until 1976.
He was then posted to Llandudno, where he was based until he retired in 1994. He was the first community policeman in Llandudno, covering the West Shore area.
Jim went on to become mayor of Llandudno between 1998-99, and was the band master of Conwy Town Band in the 1980s, before later taking over Llandudno Town Band.
He was also a staunch Aston Villa supporter, ever since he did a school project on the club in the mid-1950s.
Daughter Nia celebrated a man who “always looked for the good in people”.
She said: “You couldn’t walk down the road in Llandudno without someone knowing him. He was a proper people person; a larger-than-life character.
“He was just laid back, and always looked for the good in people, and on the bright side of everything. He never moaned about anything.
“He and my brother used to go fishing all the time; they had a boat.
“He used to teach music to a lot of the juniors in Llandudno Town Band. He always played for the Royal Oakley Band in Blaenau Ffestiniog when he was younger, and then went back after he retired to play with them again.
“He was a long-term dialysis patient, one of the longest patients they’d ever had in Bangor. He’d been on dialysis for 13 years.
“On Friday morning, he suffered a perforated bowel. By then, he’d been in hospital for about 10 days. Last Wednesday, he sent me a photo of himself on dialysis in his Villa shirt. He looked really well.
“When the doctors, who were really good and honest with him, told him his situation on Friday, he started singing ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra.
“They asked if there was anything they could get him, he said ‘a gin and tonic’; bless him. Six hours later, he passed away peacefully.”
Linda Groom, who herself served as mayor of Llandudno in 2000, and was a town and county councillor for 22 years, got to known Jim through their council work.
She remembered Jim as a great friend, adding how grateful she was for his help and support.
Linda said: “He was an excellent councillor, very well-liked by everybody; he was dedicated to the town. He was conductor of the town band, and a policeman, so of course, was very well-known in the community.
“He was a very fair and astute person. He could separate the sheep from the goats. He was a very good friend to me while I was on the council, and a great support, particularly when I was mayor.
“He was someone you could always look up to and ask for advice. He was devoted to his wife, Menna, and they were a great partnership.
“I always had this idea that I was going to take him to Llandudno in South Africa, if we could get plane tickets from somewhere!
“He loved that idea, and would have loved to have gone there to see ‘the other Llandudno’.
“When I did my reading when I was mayor on my Civic Sunday, I wanted to do my reading in Welsh, because I wanted to have a bilingual aspect to my service.
“He was a great help with getting the pronunciations right, because I have limited knowledge of Welsh.
“He was very proud of Osian, Nia and his grandchildren. His family was everything to him. I am very proud that he was my friend.”
Mici Plwm, the mayor of Pwllheli, was another close friend of Jim’s, who he had known since their school days together.
Their friendship remained strong ever since, with Mici paying tribute to his “very best and true friend”.
Mici will also be reading a eulogy at Jim’s funeral.
He said: “My friendship with Jim goes back to our very first day in secondary school (Ysgol Sir Ffestiniog in those days/Ysgol y Moelwyn today). We shared our class desks for the next five years.
“When it came time to leave school, I think we were a bit of a nightmare for the careers teacher, having not decided what our futures would be. Jim reckoned that we were late developers!
“Jim was born with a huge charisma and a permanent smile, and was able to fill a room with happiness and laughter.
“My frequent visits to his home in Llandudno were an utter delight and we would spend long afternoons remembering our yesterdays, and me listening to the yarns of his years as a member of the Royal Oakley Band... sheer delight and hours of laughter.
“Without a doubt, he was my very best and true friend, and I will miss him terribly.
“I love Llandudno, but my visits to the town will now, having lost my best mate Jim, will have a huge, sad void for me.”
Llandudno Town Band celebrated the life of a man also known as a talented euphonium player.
A statement from the band read: “Jim was a bandsman through and through, excelling not only as a player, but as a dedicated conductor of this and other brass bands.
“He was a great guy, full of fun, and well-remembered for his resilience and strength of character, to which he always attributed being because he was ‘ a lad from Blaenau Ffestiniog’.
“He will be missed by all who knew him, and our thoughts are with his family at this time.”
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Cled Davies was a police colleague of Jim’s in the early 1970s, and paid tribute to a man “respected by the whole community”.
Cled said: “I was privileged to have known and worked with Jim when we were both village bobbies in Morfa Nefyn and Nefyn in the early 1970s.
“Jim knew everyone and was respected by the whole community.
“It was a sad day for the residents when Jim was transferred to Llandudno, but Morfa Nefyn’s was Llandudno’s massive gain.”
Jim will be laid to rest on Monday, November 14.
A service at St Paul's Church, Mostyn Broadway at 1pm will be followed by committal at Llanrhos Lawn Cemetery, followed by a reception at The Lilly, West Shore.
Donations for the renal unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd who cared for Jim, in lieu of flowers, have been requested.
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