Kentish Express Ashford & District
Life of Lord Lieutenant remembered at Cathedral
‘He always had heart-warming pride in the whole of Kent’
Dignitaries from across Kent packed out Canterbury Cathedral to remember the “extraordinary life” of the county’s former Lord Lieutenant Allan Willett.
Royal representatives, business bosses and councillors headed to the city for last Friday’s service of thanksgiving.
Ex-company boss Mr Willett, who donated £4m to charities, died at his Chilham home in July at the age of 78.
The Dean of Canterbury, The Very Rev Robert Willis, paid tribute to Mr Willett, who was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Kent in 2002 as the Queen’s representative in the county.
He said: “He always had a massive excitement and heart-warming pride in the whole of Kent and its two great cathedrals.
“He was a realist and in 2002 all that he had got through life was put at our disposal, and not just financial resources, which were lavished on our county of Kent in various ways.”
Born in India of tea planter parents from Kent, Mr Willett returned with them at the age of two and was brought up on Thanet farms during the Second World War.
As an entrepreneur, he founded Willett International Ltd, which became one of the world’s largest electronic coding and information labelling companies.
In the public sector, he was the founding chairman of first the Industrial Development Board for London and then the South East England Develop- ment Agency. The sale of Willett International enabled him to create a charitable foundation which has donated £4m to mainly Kentish causes, including more than £2m to Canterbury Cathedral and substantial grants to both the Turner Contemporary in Margate and the new Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury.
Mr Willett’s daughter Kate McCorquodale paid tribute to her father, who died after a long illness.
She said: “One of my earliest memories was sitting on his lap shouting at the telly watching rugby.
“He really loved the game of rugby and he would have really loved to have been watching this year’s World Cup.
“Throughout his life and especially during the long illness he was extremely courageous and never self-pitying about his hardship. I am extremely thankful for my dad’s life. He lived an extraordinary life and certainly lived it his way.”