Tributes have been paid to an Exeter teacher who helped hundreds of students reach physical excellence.
David Edgecombe, who has died aged 87, was a PE teacher at Exeter's St Luke's College for over 30 years.
He was also a fine athlete himself and is still thought to hold the Devon records for throwing the discus and the shot put.
Mr Edgecombe, who was originally from Plymouth, served in the Army in the Second World War and after being demobbed, enrolled as a PE student at St Luke's, graduating in the summer of 1950.
His first teaching post took him away from Devon but in the late 1950s he returned to his home county as a lecturer in PE at St Luke's.
Fellow lecturer and friend Nigel Tucker said: "David really was an excellent athlete himself and was a very popular and respected lecturer.
"Hundreds of young men and women passed through his classes over the years and he was held in high esteem.
"He was a super bloke, everyone liked him and he had a terrific, quirky, sense of humour. He will be greatly missed by many.
"His main areas of lecturing were in track and field athletics, hockey, and in Modern Educational Dance - a strange combination, but Dave had many facets to him, including a great quirky sense of humour, and he was quite involved in the arts as well as sport and recreation.
" He also taught swimming and even human anatomy when he stood in for me when I was seconded for a year.
"He qualified in modern dance after a one-year course at the Laban Art of Movement Studio in Addlestone in Surrey in the mid 1970's.
"Over the years, he will have coached and influenced many young athletes in track and field and in hockey, some of whom reached national standard. Dave was 87 when he died in the nursing home in Exmouth last Friday. He was a lovely human being."
Mr Edgecombe, who lived in Heavitree for many years, was recognised nationally for his coaching skills and held summer courses at the national athletic training centre at Lilleshall.
He retired in 1992 and moved to Exmouth.
He leaves a wife, Jane, and two sons, Rob and Jan.
His funeral is at 2.45pm on Friday, March 7 at the Exeter Crematorium.
