David Rogers Jones 1942-2022

David and Margaret Rogers Jones started Rogers Jones & Co in 1992. They made great sacrifices and worked all hours to create a successful company in the middle of Colwyn Bay town centre. David was exceptionally proud of how it has now developed and that is more than just a local north Wales auction house.

David was an incredible auctioneer who loved his job. The first auction he conducted was in the Drill Hall, Menai Bridge in 1962 and his last only four or so years ago. There can be very few auctioneers who have conducted as many auctions and sold as many lots!

David loved the theatre of auctioneering, yet he was not showy, there were no gimmicks - no fancy waistcoats, or Sotheby's style dramatic gestures. He simply added warm humour and camaraderie within his lots, which helped him generate a fabulous rapport with his customers. He would not have been the man for a fancy London auction house but he was the man for auctioneering in Wales to the Welsh public. He was a Welsh man, a Welsh speaker and there was great affinity with the Welsh saleroom bidders and David.

David loved being out and 'doing his calls'. He enjoyed meeting people and getting to know every backroad, housing estate and small community in north Wales. I was lucky enough to spend many hours on calls with him when I started out, and he always had the perfect tone and clients immediately warmed to him. He was the consummate professional but on the appropriate occasion there was time for humour, such as his classic 'now, you haven't booked a cruise have you, Mrs Jones' when faced with a table of bric-a-brac.

David's final valuation appointment was on Monday, December 5th, 2022. David was very weak and weary at this point but insisted that he wanted to conduct a probate valuation in Caernarfon - which he duly did. A few house later, an ambulance was called for David, in which he was taken to hospital for end of life treatment.

We have since listened to his final dictated valuation and it was a lucid and professional assessment of a house contents for the purpose of probate. He was professional to the end.

David was incredibly proud that the Rogers Jones company remains a family business with family values at its core and that those who work in the company appear to stay with the company for years. David's legacy is that the Rogers Jones Company is an extension of the Rogers Jones family and these values are secure in the future with his son's, John and Ben Rogers Jones.

David had been suffering from cancer which was only diagnosed in October this year - a few days after his 80th birthday. David leaves his best friend and wife Margaret, with whom he had been inseparable since their student days. He also leaves three children - Shan, John and Ben, and five grandchildren, together with beloved in-law children Paul, Glenda and Mererid.

He was adored by his family.