Former mayor ‘always did his best for town’
TRIBUTES AFTER CORONAVIRUS DEATH
TOWN councillor and former Mayor of Hedon Gordon Thurston has died of coronavirus aged 86.
Hedon Town Council Clerk Judith Maklin said Cllr Thurston passed away in hospital on Tuesday.
The town clerk said he went into hospital after missing a town council meeting on Thursday, October 22, saying he felt unwell.
Current Mayor of Hedon Cllr Colin Billany said Cllr Thurston’s loss was a “total shock” to the town.
The mayor, who served with Cllr Thurston on the town council from 2013, said he was knowledgeable, always offered to help with local events and also had a “cheeky side”.
Mayor Billany said: “He was always looking out for the town and worked to do his best for it, it’s such a shame he’s gone.”
Cllr Thurston’s death follows that of Cllr Michael Bryan, an East Riding and Hedon town councillor who passed away aged 75 in April after also contracting coronavirus.
Cllr John Dennis, member for South West Holderness on East Riding Council and also a Hedon Town councillor, said it was Cllr Thurston who encouraged him to go into politics.
Cllr Dennis said he was a “character of the town” and a close personal friend that he had known for 50 years.
Cllr Thurston served on Hedon Town Council as an independent for around 30 years and was Mayor of Hedon from 1998 to 1999.
He was a member of the town council’s finance, planning, property and emergency committees as well as its events and Hedfest working groups.
Cllr Thurston was also on the board of the East Riding and Northern Lincolnshire Local Councils Association.
The councillor served in the Army, fighting in the Malayan Emergency, which lasted from 1948 to 1960, before then working at Hull City Council.
He later volunteered with Hedon Museum and for the Royal British Legion and was a Unison member but retired from the trade union before his death.
Mayor Billany said: “His death was a total shock to people because a lot of them didn’t know he was ill.
“He was such a genuine person who was always there to help no matter what.
“But you could always have a laugh and a joke with him, he had a cheeky and mischievous side and enjoyed winding the other councillors up but always took jokes on him in good faith.
“His death from coronavirus puts things into perspective, he always tried to follow the two-metre rule and came to council meetings on Zoom using a computer in the town hall because he didn’t have his own.
“You go from thinking we should be OK to losing someone who was extra careful with it. We still don’t know how he got it.”
Cllr Dennis said although Cllr Thurston was “mischievous to say the least”, he had a serious and public spirited side.
The councillor said: “I’ve known Gordon and his widow for 50 years, it was he who suggested I stand for the town council 20 years ago and then for the East Riding ten years later.
“He was a character of the town. He always had his jokes, but he also had a serious side to him. He was very much Gordon.
“I can never remember him missing a meeting, maybe once or twice when he had a holiday booked, he was everpresent.
“He was a council man, he wanted to be there and loved being a part of it.
“He never had a cross word with me, and if he did it was of no consequence.
“We were close friends, after meetings we’d go to the Royal British Legion for a pint and he’d be telling stories about his army days.”
Cllr Thurston is survived by his wife and three children.