TRIBUTES have been paid to a community stalwart who spent decades in public service and raised much money for charity.

Former Dorset county councillor David Crowhurst passed away peacefully after a period of illness on February 14 aged 89, surrounded by family.

He is survived by his wife Geraldine, son Michael, daughter Sandra, three grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

David, who moved from Dorset to Gloucestershire in his later years, was a member of both the Round Table and Rotary, for which he engaged in many local charity works.

He was a keen golfer and a member of Came Down Golf Club for many years.

Dorset Echo: David Crowhurst at the local electionsDavid Crowhurst at the local elections (Image: Newsquest)

David was born on September 3, 1933 in Richmond, York, the middle of three boys.

As a Second World War evacuee, he was sent away from his family home in East Grinstead, Sussex, to Wales and returned home to family later during the war to take up the boyish pursuit of racing ARP wardens to downed aircraft!

After leaving school he worked for the Ministry of Health in hospital auditing, entering local government with the Oxford Corporation and it was in Oxford that he met Geraldine, whom he married in 1959.

David, Geraldine and their infant son Michael moved to Looe in Cornwall, where he worked for the local urban district council, moving again in 1964 to Dorchester with Michael and daughter, Sandra.

Dorset Echo:

In Dorchester David took up the appointment of assistant borough treasurer with Dorchester Town Council, becoming its last borough treasurer in 1968. He remained in this post until it was absorbed into the newly formed West Dorset District Council in 1974, remaining with the new WDDC in the housing and planning department until his retirement.

First becoming a councillor in 1997, in 2003 David won the local government seat of Linden Lea (Crossways) to become a county councillor, serving his local community from his home in Broadmayne and was re-elected in 2005. He stood down at the 2009 election.

He retained his involvement in community and politics by becoming part of the team supporting Richard Drax MP.

In 2017 he and his wife moved to Stroud in Gloucestershire to be nearer his daughter and her family.