One of Torbay Hospital Radio's best-loved presenters is to have the newly refurbished record library dedicated to his memory. Friends and family say it will be a fitting tribute to music guru Warwick Lewis, who died suddenly in February at the age of 59. He was well-known at the hospital radio station where he had been volunteering for over 13 years, hosting his show called the lost 45's every Tuesday night.
The record library at the hospital has been repainted and reorganised in the past few months and it was decided a plaque should be fitted as a fitting tribute to Warwick, who was a dedicated and popular member of the team there. Widow Cynthia said: "It's lovely Warwick will be remembered in this way. he loved his show and music was his passion. He must have had between 8,000 and 10,000 records. he had been collecting them all his life and loved going around car boot sales or to record fairs."
Warwick's one-month-old grandaughter Minnie May will be one of the special guests at the dedication on Saturday, as will his daughter Melanie and son Paul. Bob Myers, treasurer and truster at Torbay Hospital radio, said the plaque was a fitting tribute to Warwick. Bob said: "His music knowledge was unbelievable. He knew which years songs were released and on what record label. Warwick was certainly a character and his show was very popular. he used to talk about the actual songs, the artist and give all the background information. His all-round music knowledge was unrivalled, and he had a particular passion for northern soul music. We've now got a computerised system for playing out music but there was no way he was going to use that. We've revamped the record library and have got a lovely gold 45 single with a photo of Warwick in the middle of it which will be permanently there to mark his involvement with it."
Warwick and Cynthia moved to Paignton in 1981 and he had worked as a service engineer for
B and P Buswell ever since. His other passion was racing remote controlled cars with the Torquay Ministocks Club.