Born in 1927 in Yorkshire, Eric's childhood was punctuated by the frequent moves required by his father's work as a bank superintendent.

By 1938 his family was living just north of London and Eric was able to go to the Oval to enjoy Len Hutton's record-breaking innings of 364 against Australia.

The following year after the outbreak of war, Eric was evacuated to West Buckland. There he was to gain colours for ATC, running and cricket, his favourite sport in which he represented the school in the first eleven. School was followed by the Army and Eric served in Palestine with the artillery putting his schoolroom maths to good use in making calculations which enabled the guns to be targeted accurately, surveying and 3D terrain maps for tactical planning.

He enjoyed many aspects of army life and later served in the Territorial Army. The surveying learned in the Army gave Eric a ready-made occupation in civilian life. He worked for the Ordnance Survey, railways and Coal Board before moving to a position with Leeds City Council, where he stayed for over 40 years surveying and town-planning.

A piano recital at West Buckland had ignited a lifelong love of music and Eric met his wife-to-be, Dorothy at a concert in Leeds. They were married in 1957 and celebrated their 59th anniversary in March. Their daughter and two sons were born in Leeds and the couple remained there after Eric retired. Eric enjoyed a full and active life.

He loved walking and photography, music and sport especially cricket and rugby. After retiring he took up genealogy, tracing the family history back into the 1600s and discovering previously unknown relatives.

He was an unfailingly kind and unassuming man and is greatly missed by Dorothy, Sandra, John and Hazel, Martin, Chris and Donna.