Neil Newby, a former district and parish councillor, was also honorary president of the Holton Community Centre Association (HCCA) which he founded thirty-three years ago. He battled to win funds for the centre which was built adjoining the junior school in Picksley Crescent in nineteen eighty-one. It's now a hub for village sport including football, badminton and indoor bowls as well as dance classes, Guide meetings, children's groups and numerous other activities.
Mr Newby, 73, died in the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, in Grimsby, on Friday July 10. He had been suffering from cancer for seven years.
HCCA committee member Rosemary Hubbard said: "The HCCA was Neil, he built it up all those years ago and he carried on being chairman although he was ill. He asked if we wanted to put someone else in but we wanted him to carry on as long as he was able. The HCCA owes a great deal to Neil. Until the end he was there upholding it and keeping it going."
Mr Newby's public service ran in the family. His great uncle, Tom Newby, was a former Mayor of Grimsby. His father Frank was also a Holton-le-Clay parish councillor.
As an East Lindsey district councillor twice over a total of nearly twenty years, Mr Newby served on the planning and licensing committees as well as on the board of Linx Homes.
The Newby family name was also known on the docks where his grandfather Frank became a fish merchant in the 1920s. Neil followed his own father into the firm, but as the fishing industry declined, he left to become an independent financial advisor.
A talented, self-taught musician, Mr Newby played the guitar and was chairman of the Grimsby and district Guitar Society in the late 1960s. He was a key organiser of the town's first–ever guitar festival at the former Humber Royal Hotel, which attracted players from across the country.
Dog training was another of his hobbies and interests. Mrs Hubbard said: "He was just wonderful with dogs. I have memories of him taking a dog that was quite unruly and in two or three minutes it would be walking to heel quite happily and it was always with kindness. He had a real knack with dogs."
Mr Newby taught the subject for local adult education and ran a dog handling demonstration team which gave displays around the region. His own dogs, mostly German Shepherds, were trained for a high level of obedience competition and won many awards and prizes.
He leaves his wife of 53 years, Betty, three children and five grandchildren. His funeral service was held on Monday at St Peter's Church, Holton-le-Clay, where he was head choir boy and server.