TRIBUTES are flooding in following the death of Forest of Dean transport leader and former Council Chairman George Merry Read MBE, of Mitcheldean. He would have been 70 next month.
George took over the family transport firm in 1962, when he was 23, following his father's death. It was sold to the nationalised BRS in 1965, after which he developed his own bulk-tipper business at the Wilderness in the 1970s.
Running conveys during the coal strike in the 1980s he said motorway sections were worn into ruts by all the trucks pounding along them. He sold the business in 1988 moving into waste transfer, skip hire and sandstone for home building.
He leaves his second wife Pam and sons Edward (general manager Richard Read Commercials) and Jonathan at Vantage Point; as well as a son, Nigel, and daughter, Jane, by his previous marriage.
He served with the Forest of Dean District Council for 34 years and represented Mitcheldean for 31 years.
A Forest council spokesman said Independent George will be remembered for a lifetime of service to the people of the Forest of Dean, and in particular his home parish of Mitcheldean.
A former chairman of the district council (2003-6), George had represented Mitcheldean as a district councillor (the Mitcheldean and Drybrook ward in more recent years). He was the last member of the original district council at its creation in 1974 to serve without break until the present council. He had also served on East Dean Rural District Council for over ten years.
George was chairman of the Environmental Health Committee and had a keen interest in planning and development control matters. He was awarded an MBE in 1986.
Council chairman Marrilyn Smart said: "George was a gentleman of the old school, always quick to correct anyone who addressed him as councillor or Mr Read, he was always George to the people of the district.
"Throughout his long service he always put the interests of the people he was elected to represent before anything else. His quietly spoken old fashioned courtesy will be much missed in the Council Chamber at Coleford and his years of experience will leave a huge gap in the Council. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Pam and his family in their loss."
Forest MP Mark Harper said: "I was very sorry to learn of Cllr George Read's death. He had a long and distinguished career on the Forest of Dean District Council and had served as its chairman. He made a valuable contribution to our district, both as a local businessman and in public service. He will be missed by many.
"My thoughts are with his family and friends at what will be a very difficult time for them all."
Fellow councillor and friend Norman Stephens said the Forest would not see his like again.
"He was held in great esteem both in the Forest and surrounding counties. He treated everyone as an equal. He was a true gentleman."
And Alastair Fraser added: "I often sat beside him. It will be impossible to replace him."
Mr Read died peacefully at home