A TAVISTOCK town councillor and former borough representative has died after a long illness.
Harry Pearson, a Liberal Democrat who represented the town's North ward, died on Saturday at his home in Tavistock.
Mayor of Tavistock Cllr Roger Mathew said: 'I shall miss his unique contributions to the council.
'It's obviously very sad to lose a colleague like this — my sympathies go to Pearl his wife.'
Members and staff at the borough council offered their condolences at the sad news of Cllr Pearson's death at the age of 67.
David Incoll, chief executive, said: 'Cllr Pearson lead the planning and development committee before the May 1999 election and despite his ill health he always fought for what he believed in.'
Margaret Garton, mayor of West Devon, said: 'Harry never allowed his illness to stand in the way of the tremendous amount of work that was required to achieve what he wanted for the people of Tavistock and the borough as a whole.
'This direct hands-on approach belied the amount of background reading he undertook on a wide variety of subjects so that he could fight his corner.'
David Stapleton, a fellow Liberal Democrat on the town and borough councils, said: 'He was a very nice, gentle and brave man — even though his body was failing his brain was still very active and he kept going right to the end.
'He was a blunt Yorkshireman but he was always honest and forthright. He had tremendous integrity — he was a great friend to me and a very good, loyal, stalwart colleague as far as the Liberal Democrats were concerned.'
Cllr Pearson's funeral will be held tomorrow (Friday) at the United Reformed Church in Russell Street, Tavistock at 12.15pm.