On June 7, 1980 William Richard ‘Richie’ Latimer was working in his shop in Newtownbutler when a masked gunman entered and shot him in the back. Richie died instantly suffering a fatal wound to the heart.

40 years on, Richie’s brother George Latimer says the pain is “just as clear today as the day it happened”.

“It’s still very raw. We remember him every day. Every day you think about it, it never leaves you,” George told The Impartial Reporter.

Richie Latimer was born in the townland of Cornacaghan, Newtownbutler on February 6, 1942 to Richard and Emily Latimer. Richie was one of six, (three girls and three boys). An industrious young man, Richie became attached to JWH Johnston’s Hardware at age 14. He worked hard between the hardware business and the family farm.

Richie then purchased the hardware section of JWH Johnston’s and was making a success of the business employing members of the local community. It was whilst working in his own shop, assisted by 12-year-old Cyril Brown who also came from the local area, that Richie was murdered by the Provisional IRA at the age of 39.

“It was after lunchtime when a gunman came into the shop and another waited outside in a car. He just walked up behind the counter and shot him in the back, through the heart. He died instantly,” said George.

The second gunman was waiting outside the shop and after the shooting, the two terrorists escaped across the Border via the Wattlebridge road.

The terrorists struck Richie when he was at his most vulnerable; serving the public within his local shop, serving the public. There was outcry following Richie’s murder, with demonstrations held in the local community.

“We were very much disturbed. We are a Christian family and that’s stood to us, only for that I don’t know, it would’ve been difficult,” said George, noting that he and his family got strength from their Christian faith.

Richie had been a member of the USC, along with his brothers George and Robbie. Upon the disbandment of the USC the three brothers joined the UDR on the same day committed to “playing their part in the defence of the country and the people of the Fermanagh borderlands”.

The Latimer family had been targeted on numerous occasions over the early years of the 1970s, there was a concerted campaign of ethnic cleansing waged by The Provisional IRA against the Protestant population.

Had Richie lived he would have saw four grandchildren and a great grandchild. Richie is remembered by his widow Bonnie, son Gordon, daughter Jill and his siblings; George, Violet and Doreen and the wider family circle.

The Latimer family have been members of SEFF for over two decades and its’ Director of Services Kenny Donaldson pays tribute to them: “The family are well respected within SEFF but also across the wider community. They are a family who have endured much at the hands of terrorism but they have continued to live their lives in keeping with God’s will.”

“The Latimer family have real steel, they are proud of their own culture and identity but also believe in fairness and they have a quiet determination which is typical of the borderland spirit,” said Mr. Donaldson.

“We never got any justice and it’s unlikely that there will be now after such a long time. We’re not the only family, there’s a lot of other family’s in the same position along the Border where men were shot and killed,” George told this newspaper.