A LEIGH Sinton carpenter and undertaker who was famed for his skill as a wheelwright has died aged 85.

Gerald Arthur Thomas Jones spent all his life in Leigh Sinton. He made everything from farming equipment to wheels for old-fashioned gipsy caravans. He also made hand-built coffins.

Mr Jones learned his trade from his father, Thomas, also a lifelong resident of the village. It was from his father that he also inherited the carpentry business, T H Jones and Son.

It was Mr Jones senior who built the funeral bier, later renovated by his son, that carried Gerald Jones to his final resting-place on Wednesday (May 28). Mr Jones was buried in the graveyard at Bransford Chapel, after a service at Leigh Church.

He was also known for the 25 years' service he gave Leigh Sinton Parish Council, where his encyclopaedic knowledge of the village and its network of drains and culverts was invaluable.

Born on September 26, 1917, Mr Jones died on Wednesday, May 20, at Worcestershire Royal Hospital after a brief illness.

He married Joyce in 1943 and they had three children, Graham, Sandra and Caroline, five grandchildren and one great-grandson. Gerald and Joyce celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in March.

Daughter-in-law Susan Jones remembered a "very kind, gentle, generous man".

"He was as straight as straight could be, and will be missed in so many ways," she said.