My father Bert Crane, who has died aged 87, was one of the longest-serving local councillors in Britain. He was first elected to Horsham rural district council, West Sussex, in 1954 and was a Labour member for the West Green ward of Crawley borough council for the next 58 years.
Bert was born in Wandsworth, south-west London, eldest of three sons of Bert and Ethel. At the age of 14 he joined the boys’ naval training ship HMS Exmouth, and went on to serve on the Anson and Duke of York, taking part in the Russian convoys during the second world war. He was invalided out of the navy in 1948 after contracting TB. He moved with his parents and younger brother, Charlie, to Crawley in 1952, where he was able to pursue his keen interest in the creation of the West Sussex new town. In 1959, Bert met Valerie Yates; they married three years later and had two children, Sara and me.
A walk through the centre of Crawley with Bert could take ages, as so many people would stop to talk to him. He rarely missed a meeting and was the last chairman of Crawley urban district council (before it became a borough council), but his proudest achievement as a councillor was the part he played in the creation of the Greenfields sheltered housing scheme.
In the mid-1980s he spent a number of Saturdays collecting money for the striking miners, and he was also a member of CND. In later years he played an active role in the Royal Naval Association and the Russian Convoy Club, members of which formed a guard of honour at his funeral.
Bert was a passionate supporter of council housing and remained a council tenant until his death. He was a true old-style Labour party supporter, a great believer in more power being given to local councils, not less, and a champion of Crawley.
Bert is survived by Valerie, Sara and me, and Charlie. His brother Dickie predeceased him.
