Maidenhead & Windsor

The Royal Windsor and Maidenhead Borough has expressed deep regret at the death on Monday (March 17) of former councillor Harry Parker after a long illness.

One of the Royal Borough's most respected and longest-serving councillors, Mr Parker represented Old Windsor Residents and Ratepayers Association as an Independent for the Old Windsor ward almost continually from 1976 until 2003. He was a former member and chairman of Old Windsor Parish Council and was Deputy Mayor of the borough from 1993 to 1994.

His services to the Royal Borough – and in particular to his local community of Old Windsor – were recognised in 1999 when he was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough following a unanimous council resolution.

At the time of the ceremony, Mr Parker was only the 12th person to be granted Royal Windsor and Maidenhead Borough freedom status, joining a prestigious list which then included the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales.

Born and educated in Somerset, Mr Parker served in the RAF from 1943 to 1947. He and his wife, Doreen, moved to Old Windsor in 1965 where he served on the parish council and became its chairman for two years in 1973.

Mr Parker's involvement in his local community of Old Windsor led to his election as a borough councillor to serve the Old Windsor ward in May 1976. An election defeat three years later took him off the council but his return in May 1983 marked the start of a long and distinguished service, in particular through the various housing boards and panels.

In addition to his local community involvement, Mr Parker also served on a wide range of statutory organisations including the Berkshire Fire Authority, Windsor and Maidenhead Association for Social Work, Thames Water Southern Consultative Committee and the local Authorities Aircraft Noise Council.

Over the years he also developed a reputation as a fluent and well-informed speaker on health and environment issues, drawing on his career in the fields of microbiology, applied bacteriology and food science.

Cllr Leo Walters, Mayor of the Royal Windsor and Maidenhead Borough, said: "Harry Parker richly deserved his status as an Honorary Freeman of the Royal Borough – which recognised the outstanding work he did over many, many years for his local community of Old Windsor.

"He was a very well-respected and gifted man, whose dedication and commitment to the work of the council will be very sadly missed. On behalf of all my fellow councillors I would like to extend our sincere sympathies to his family at this very sad time."

Mr Parker leaves two sons, David and Robert.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead