THE quality of Heaven’s wine cellar is likely to improve immeasurably following the death of Don Everton at the age of 87. The Hereafter is also gaining a very talented all round sportsman.

For Mr Everton, a former captain of Worcester Rugby Club and a quality player of golf, squash, tennis and cricket, was one of Worcestershire’s best known names in the wine trade. He turned a family village grocer’s shop at Ombersley into a fine wine and delicatessen business, which at one time had 12 branches throughout the county.

With customers ranging from Harrods and the Dorchester Hotel in London to the village British Legion club, Everton’s of Ombersley became famous among wine and cheese connoisseurs across the Midlands.

His son Richard, who now runs Bottles Wine Bar & Merchants in New Street, Worcester, said: “Dad was a huge inspiration to me in business, sport and life. He taught me the importance of playing hard and working hard and to be dedicated to everything that mattered. He was fantastically supportive and loving to the whole family and will leave a gigantic gap in our family.”

The business that eventually grew into Everton’s of Ombersley was started in 1918 as a village store run by Don Everton’s parents selling everything from pink paraffin to chicken corn. After education at Worcester Royal Grammar School, Mr Everton began his working life at Malvern’s Radar Research Establishment, but soon fancied a change and decided to give the family business a try. A move which coincided with the end of rationing after the Second World War.

His first venture into expanding the little shop was a trip to the Dijon Food Fair in France. Enthused, he brought back a quality of continental cheeses to sell in Ombersley, but by the time he got home half of them had spoilt and had to be thrown away. Thus began his strategy of “quality is of the essence”.

The growth of continental holidays made the public more adventurous and as well as importing increased volumes of cheeses, Mr Everton also introduced pastas and continental sausages to the shop. Everton's of Ombersley won several awards for the quality of its cheeses and soon realised that customers buying cheeses wanted wines to go with them.

The business was extended in the 1960s by Mr Everton literally knocking on doors in Burgundy to find out about wines and by the 1980s, 85 per cent of the firm’s turnover was in wines and spirits. Mr Everton received numerous awards for the quality of his retail wine and became chairman of the Independent Wine Buyers Consortium, a group of 20 companies in the UK with 2,000 outlets and included seven of the largest independent breweries.

On the sporting front, Don Everton was a try scoring winger for Worcester Rugby Club and captained its first team. He also appeared for the Combined Counties, Moseley and the North Midlands. When his son Richard was appointed first team captain at Worcester it became the first and only time father and son had both led the club’s senior side. In fact Don Everton held a world record in rugby, when in 1954 he scored 12 tries as Worcester RFC beat Worcestershire Police.

He was also a county squash player and golfer, having played to pro-am level. In one year he won three of Worcestershire’s four major amateur golf opens.

Another of his passions was salmon fishing on the River Wye, especially alongside Welsh rugby legend Gareth Edwards, who sent the Everton family his sympathy on their loss.

The funeral service for Donald Arthur Everton, who lived in Norton Close, Worcester, will be held at St Andrew’s church, Ombersley on Thursday, August 31 at 2pm. He had been suffering from the brain condition cerebellar ataxia and leaves a wife Jan, three children, Susan, Sally and Richard, and seven grandchildren.