In 1986, Professor Dafydd Stephens came to direct the newly established Welsh Hearing Institute/Athrofa Clyw Cymru at the University Hospital of Wales.

The family settled in Llanmaes and quickly became an integral part of the Vale community. Dafydd already had an international reputation in audiological medicine and had developed enablement and rehabilitation services for the previous ten years in London. At the same time his reputation for basic hearing research was just as impressive. This brought him many honours and invitations to universities and institutes all over the world. Nevertheless Dafydd was renowned for his patient-centred approach and was just as community oriented as Janig, his wife, and three children (Morwena, Erwan and Rhiannon).

Dafydd served for 25 years on the community council, and was chairman for four periods in that time. Since student days he had been an active member of Plaid Cymru and, in the Vale, chaired the Cowbridge and Llantwit Major branch.

He was a stalwart campaigner for many progressive causes - most recently in the campaign against turning St Athan into a defence academy and against exploration that would lead to fracking in the Vale.

He died on Monday, July 2, 2012, the evening of his 70th birthday, after a weekend with the children and older grandchildren.

Wynford Bellin Colwinston