Dear Sir,

I was crushed to see that Keith Pearman, a gentle giant of a man and a consummate gentleman, had passed away. He meant a lot to my little family since he graciously and with what can be described only as Herculean patience, taught my girls to golf.

He withstood their squabbles in the middle of every fairway and withstood their uncontrollable giggles through 18 holes of lessons. I would have drowned them.

Keith was kind. When I was going through a tough divorce, he would get me out on the practice range or the course “just to hit a few”. Then he would tell me to stick out my “bumpie” and I, too, would be in a fit of giggles. Digging my way through the rough with a generous, handsome man turned out to be just the ticket.

Keith was incredibly trustworthy. Those hours that he spent with my girls on the course, correcting their swings, teaching them the etiquette of golf and life, gave them time with a father figure whom we could all trust and feel secure.

Oh, am I ever grateful to Keith.

As an accomplished professional golfer, I know that he loved the game of golf and everything associated with it. He talked golf every day; it was his passion. But for my family, it was more about his smile and the enthusiastic greeting he would give us whenever my girls would run up to him, vying for his attention by shouting, “Mr Pearman, Mr Pearman!”

He always stopped and indulged them, and never made me feel like they were a nuisance.

It’s always in the small ways that people become dear to you and stay with you long after they leave us. I would be horribly remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that this lovely man made a very big impact on our lives.

ELAINE C. MURRAY

Smith’s