WALTER Passmore, who in 1961 at the age of 39 became the youngest mayor of the Borough of Okehampton, has died peacefully at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

Mr Passmore, who was 80, leaves a widow Daisy, children Elizabeth and John and grandchildren James and Hannah.

He was first elected to the borough council in 1954. He was to serve, on different occasions, a further five years as mayor of Okehampton. He was also the first chairman of the newly formed West Devon District Council in 1974.

A pupil of Okehampton Grammar School, he joined the RAF where he served in North Africa, Italy and the Middle East during world war two.

He returned to join his father in the family haulage business which he later took over and ran until 1972.

He was a leading member of the Okehampton Congregational Church and, after its closure, more recently the Baptist Church.

Many men in Okehampton remember him as their Boys' Brigade officer and whose early lives were influenced by his love and care for them.

Mr Passmore also served in a fair and gracious manner as a magistrate in Okehampton Court for 22 years.

After a lifetime in borough, district and county council life he was, in 1985, honoured by the Queen with an MBE.

Serving for 13 years as a Devon county councillor and from the formation of West Devon Borough Council in 1974, Mr Passmore was a founding member of the Association of District Councils, a national body, in 1974.

When he retired from local government in 1991 it was the end of an unbroken period of nearly 100 years of Passmores on Okehampton Council. Mr Passmore had followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather — who was first elected to the council in 1895.

Even after 'retirement' there was much to keep him occupied in community and church life.

Mr and Mrs Passmore continued to be heavily involved in the Okehampton and District Disabled Fellowship where Mr Passmore only gave up the role of chairman last year after 21 years of service.

There will be a private burial. A service of thanksgiving for Mr Passmore's life will take place at Okehampton Baptist Church at 2.30pm tomorrow (Friday). Donations in lieu of flowers, if desired, for Cancer Research and Okehampton Baptist Church.