CREDITON and Newton St Cyres have lost a man who supported his community and was well-liked.

Chris Barlow died following a road accident earlier this month.

He would have been 67 this year.

Chris was married to Heather, they had four children between them and lived in Newton St Cyres.

Born in Essex, Chris moved to Crediton when posted to RAF St Mawgan in the 1980’s.

His family chose Crediton to be close to the family of Chris’ first wife.

When he came out of the RAF, Chris had a number of jobs, including a postman for a number of years, usually doing a Crediton town delivery round.

He worked for a while in Exeter before returning to Crediton where he joined Western Spray on Lords Meadow Industrial Estate, then worked for two town estate agents before joining LeRoy Funeral Service where he worked until his death.

He had been a member of CODS for more than 20 years which was where he met Heather, his second wife. He loved singing and was also one of the “Men of Morchard”.

Chris was also caretaker of Newton St Cyres Parish Hall for the last six years.

Heather said: “He was a lovely man with a real community spirit and will be missed by many.”

Chris also enjoyed fishing with his son. No date has yet been announced for the funeral service because there has to be an inquest, his death being the result of an accident. Chris survived for 10 days after the accident.