Portrait of Coxswain Richard Evans unveiled for first time Coxswain Richard Evans BEM of Moelf re is the subject of an RNLI-commissioned portrait which is to hang in a meeting room at Poole Headquarters.

The artist of the remarkable portrait (shown right) is Jeff Stultiens.

Dick Evans is the only lifeboatman alive to hold two RNLI Gold Medals for gallantry. He joined the Moelfre crew in 1921 at the age of 16, became bowman, second coxswain and then coxswain, and retired in 1970 after 49 years service.

His first Gold Medal was won for the rescue of 8 men from the motor vessel Hindlea on 27 October 1959.

His second was for the rescue of ten men from the Greek motor vessel Nafsiporos in winds up to 127mph in December 1966.

Among his many other awards, he also won the Bronze Medal in 1943.

Jeff Stultiens began his research for the painting in June 1991, | when Dick was 86. It is based on studies from life, conversations with Dick himself and from visits to Moelfre lifeboat station.

Coxswain Evans is depicted as he was in 1969, just before his retirement and shortly after his second Gold Medal-winning service.

Mr Stultiens remarked, 'The painting was a complex task. Time has inevitably changed Dick's features but the painting is faithful, I believe, to his appearance and physical stature then and to the underlying spirit which has guided his life.' The portrait was shown for the first time at the Mall Galleries on 19 May 1992..