Hundreds of mourners turned out to pay their respects and celebrate the life of former fisherman and council leader John Lee at his funeral in Cromer.
Mr Lee, from Cromer, passed away in August following a short battle with cancer, aged 60.
The turnout for his funeral at Cromer Parish Church on Tuesday afternoon (September 26) was a testament to the crab fisherman-turned-councillor’s hometown popularity.
READ MORE: Obituary: The straight-talking crab fisherman who became a community stalwart
The funeral procession passed through the town, stopping outside his family crab stall in New Street which his father first opened in 1957, before arriving at Cromer's St Peter and St Paul Church in Church Street.
The Reverend Jennie Hodgkinson opened the service by acknowledging the hole which Mr Lee’s passing has left in the lives of his family, friends, and all who knew him - but said he leaves behind “memories to treasure”.
Born on June 30, 1963, Mr Lee went on to become an eighth-generation fisherman, selling his catch at the crab stall and later his and his wife Donna’s Hot Rocks restaurant in Garden Street.
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He was a Cromer town councillor and represented Suffield Park as a Conservative on North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) from 2011 to 2019. He served as chairman of the district council from 2016 to 2017, and its leader in 2018.
That was where he first met North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker in 2017, who he asked to read his eulogy at the service.
Mr Baker said that Mr Lee came from a “beautiful, loving family”, having the “happiest of childhoods”.
Mr Lee was a “straight talker”, with a “formidable reputation”. He had a “loyalty, kindness and a sense of humour which doesn’t come easily”.
He was the “most decent, honourable man”, who was “above everything else a family man”.
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