Tributes were this afternoon paid to a “gifted” Telford teacher who died suddenly aged just 45 after collapsing on a golf course days before he was due to return to work after the summer break.

Father-of-two David Evans, a maths teacher at New College in Wellington, was playing with one of his friends at the Wrekin Golf Club in Telford on Friday afternoon but collapsed after the fourth tee.

Mr Evans’s wife Lucienne, 38, a business teacher at Telford’s Blessed Robert Johnson Catholic College, paid tribute to her husband who was airlifted from the golf course to Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital.

“I think it was a heart attack but he was in good health until this. We were supposed to have an evening meal out together before going back to work,” she said.

The couple, of Wellington, who had been together for 15 years and married for nine, met while Mrs Evans was on teaching practice at New College.

Mr Evans, a former New College pupil, was also heavily involved in rugby at the college and used to train Telford Colts.

Mrs Evans added: “He was very stable and calm, loving and kind, and he always put things into perspective because he lost his dad when he was 53. He always valued life and was a loving father.

“He loved rugby and golf and was a dedicated teacher who believed strongly in the development of young people. He particularly enjoyed helping those who were struggling. He was a gifted mathematician.”

She said their children Nicholas, seven, and Jonathan, four, adored him.

This afternoon New College principal Graham Clark said: “Staff colleagues at New College are very shocked by the loss of a popular and very well respected colleague.

“David had the enviable ability of being able to combine his expertise in mathematics with an equal enthusiasm and ability in sports, particularly in rugby.

“He was able to teach maths to a high level and enable high-flying maths students to succeed in their subsequent university choices, but he was also able to work well with students who were less talented at maths.”

He is survived by his wife and children, aunt Ann Lewis-Cartwright, of Stafford, and uncle Keith Lewis, of Telford.

By Jason Lavan