Obituary: Vancouver Island police officer wrote lyrics of popular Canadian song
Credit to Author: Ken Bradshaw| Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2019 15:33:04 +0000
Thomas David Richardson, the Saanich police officer whose lyrics for the 1970 love song Wildflower helped it become one of the most-performed in Canadian popular music, died Sunday after a short illness.
The lyrics were written as a poem for his girlfriend, a nurse at Royal Jubilee Hospital. He passed it over to friend David Foster, then in the band Skylark, and it found its way into music history after guitarist Doug Edwards gave it a melody.
Since then, Wildflower has sold millions of copies in more than 75 versions. It has been interpreted by the likes of Hank Crawford, Johnny Mathis, the Neville Brothers and Colour Me Badd.
Richardson, known as Dave, was low-key about the success of the song over the years.
“I always felt that all I did was hold the pen in my hand and God did the writing,” he once said.
Valley Hennell, a longtime friend who handles the administration and publishing for Wildflower, said the words were written in just 15 minutes. She said Richardson was inspired to write it after his girlfriend — who later became his wife — had a difficult day at work, seeing two geriatric patients die.
“It was what they call, I guess, a one-hit wonder for the group Skylark,” Hennell said.
Dave Richardson, retired Saanich policeman and Wildflower lyricist, died Aug. 25 in Victoria.
Richardson was born in Pembroke, Ont,. in 1942 and by the age of five had decided he wanted to be a police officer and a songwriter. He went on to serve 30 years with the Saanich Police Department from 1966 to 1997, reaching the rank of staff sergeant.
Policing turned out to be a family pursuit, with his brother, Doug, joining the Victoria department and becoming chief.
“The few of us left who worked with Dave have very fond memories of him as an old-school cop and a colourful character who loved serving his community as a proud member of the Saanich police,” said Saanich Police Deputy Chief Gary Schenk.
He offered condolences from the department.
Doug Richardson described him as “the classic big brother, always looking out for me.”
“What sticks in my mind is the selflessness of Dave,” he said. “It just seemed like all he ever cared about was helping other people.”
Hennell said his actions showed what type of person he was.
“Dave was just a large-hearted, generous man who in his last decades devoted himself to working with addictions, and moved to Jerusalem to open a kitchen to feed the homeless and the needy.”
He eventually returned to Canada.
A celebration of life will be announced at a later date.
jwbell@timescolonist.com