FAMILY and friends have paid tribute to a respected school governor.

Raymond Barker, who died aged 86, was chairman of governors at Stoke Prior School. His funeral service was held on Saturday at Stoke Prior Church, in the village where he had retired and made many close friends.

Headteacher Sally McCamley said: “Mr Barker shared every part of school life with us and was interested in all that we did. He will be an enormous loss to the school.”

Mr Barker was born in 1922 in Yorkshire and grew up in poverty.

His father was unemployed and, for some time, his family were squatters in disused army barracks before they were assigned a council house.

Mr Barker went on to serve as a Petty Officer on HMS Victorious during the Second World War and worked for Thomas Cook in London before joining Sir Henry Lunn Ltd (later known as Lunn Poly) where he became managing director.

In 1971, he became a consultant to tour operators, travel companies and hotel development groups.

Mr Barker retired in 1989 and moved to Stoke Prior with his second wife Carol.

Mr Barker began his association with Stoke Prior School in 1996 where he was a volunteer before becoming a school governor in 2001 and then chairman of governors a year later, a post he held until his death.