Stephen Richard Firth: – [Heath 1965–1971]
Stephen was born on in Halifax. He attended Warley Road Junior School and then Heath Grammar School.
After school, he spent a few months at the Halifax Building Society on Commercial Street where he met his wife, Diane.
Despite being told he would never make it as a journalist, he decided to pursue his passion and became a trainee reporter for the Halifax Courier. He led a 10-strong team of reporters covering the trial of Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.
He worked his way up to Deputy Editor and then became Editor of the Brighouse Echo, until his role was made redundant in 2012; he was also Group Editor of other local news publications.
Diane and Stephen married on at Brighouse Parish Church. In 1981 they welcomed their eldest daughter Julia, followed by Helen in 1984.
He was grandfather to Isabel, 14; Millie, 6 and Annabel, 2 and he spent lots of his time with the girls, playing football, enjoying trips to the park and even playing Barbies.
He enjoyed walking, watching horse racing and travelling, especially to his two favourite places — Cornwall and Australia.
His funeral took place at Park Wood Crematorium, Elland, on Monday followed by a celebration of his life at Brighouse Sports Club. A Facebook message from the family said: ‘As dad would have wanted, please wear some bright clothing.’