A FAMILY has paid tribute to a ‘popular gentleman’ who died suddenly at the age of 89.

John Whiteley, who was born in Wrexham, died on September 14 from pneumonia and leaves behind his daughter’s Nia Whiteley and Sian Dickers and grandchildren Thomas and Peter Dickers.

Nia Whiteley said her late father was born in Wrexham, and despite travelling from a young age, the town stayed close to his heart.

She said: “He was a very likeable person and was everyone’s friend. He was very gentle, and everyone called him a gentleman, he was always polite and just a very popular person.”

Mr Whiteley left school in Wrexham to complete his National Service before studying Geography at university.

He then became a teacher before deciding that he wanted to ‘see the world’ and got a teaching job in Hong Kong in 1957.

Ms Whiteley added that her parents met in 1956 and spent 18 years in Hong Kong before moving to London where her father worked as part of the Hong Kong Government in the education department.

The Leader:

John Whiteley

She said: “It was a really long time 18 years. He had a fantastic time.

“He came back in 1975 and at that stage he was still really young, so he went to work in London for the Hong Kong Government for two years before he got a job at Liverpool city council for the higher education department.”

Mr Whiteley, who lived in Pandy before moving to Wirral, retired at 63 and became a ‘very active’ walker and joined his local rambling team.

Ms Whiteley added: “He knew Wrexham like the back of his hand and used to lead the walks, some were eight miles. It’s quite amazing, he did really well.

“He became the chairman and president of the rambling group and also joined the local rotary club. He was very active.

“He always remembered Wrexham; it was quite close to his heart.

“He was an unassuming man and never complained and he always took use for walks when we were little.

“Dad would take us on a short cut which would always end up longer but because he studied geography, he always pointed out the cloud formation. He loved being in a group of people and loved being sociable.

“He never got mad at us but I remember one time, the only time I saw him get mad was when we were on holiday and my sister and I played in the mud and got mud up to our knees and we had to get on the coach covered in mud.”

Mr Whiteley collapsed suddenly in his own home and died ‘quickly’ at the local hospital.

His funeral was held on October 3 and Ms Whiteley said he will be sorely missed.

She told the Leader: “Last year he did want to go back and see his roots, so I drove him around Wrexham and his memory was coming back to him, his childhood memories.”