The family of a Harleston clergyman who gave nearly 40 years of service to the town have paid tribute to his considerate and caring nature following his death after a four-year battle against cancer.
The Rev Clive Hudson, who was an ordained local minister, was well known in the Harleston area for his work with schools, councils and the church.
He died aged 72 at his family home in Shotford Road on June 21.
Born in Lamas, he was appointed headteacher at Dove First School aged 35 and led the school through many changes, including the opening of the nursery, until his retirement after nearly 25 years service.
The keen football and speedway fan was elected to South Norfolk Council and went on to become chairman, welcoming the Queen to the opening of the new Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in 2001.
In 2004, he was ordained as a voluntary priest and led numerous services, officiating at christenings, weddings and funerals.
His wife Olive, 70, said: 'He was the love of my life. We had been married 51 years.'
His daughter Rachael Fleming, 47, added: 'He was a very considerate person and caring and always wanted to help people. He saw the good in everybody.'
During his time at the school, Mr Hudson was president of the Norfolk division of the National Union of Teachers and attended many conferences, while his wife was the school secretary.
During his time on the council, he particularly enjoyed working on the planning committee and he became a long-standing member of the Parochial Church Council at Thurton, then at Harleston with Redenhall and also Needham.
While a clergyman, he regularly led assemblies at Harleston Primary School.
He was also part of the Open the Book team that aimed to bring Bible stories alive to pupils at Brockdish, Scole and Harleston primary schools.
The life-long Norwich City fan was chairman of the Harleston Development Partnership and was on the Diocesan Board of Education.
He played football for many teams, while his interest in speedway stemmed from his youth when he lived next to Norwich speedway track. He became a fan of King's Lynn.
His other hobbies included reading, walking - especially around the north Norfolk coast - and tennis, while he was also a friend of Harleston Players drama group.
He leaves sister Cheryl Thompson, daughter Lucy Hammond, 45, son-in-law Lawrie Hammond, 65 and grandchildren Tom Snowling, 18, Benjamin Snowling, 14 and Madi Fleming, 13.
His funeral will be at St Mary's Church, Redenhall on July 7 at 2.30pm.
Pay your tribute to Mr Hudson by writing, giving your full contact details, to: dma.letters@archant.co.uk
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