TRIBUTES have been paid to a former parish councillor and community champion who has died at the age of 53.
Dean Smith, who was very pro-active in Stoke Prior and the wider Bromsgrove communities, passed away while visiting friends on holiday.
He was a strong believer in local communities, exemplified by his roles on and with the parish and district councils, respectively.
Dean founded Bromsgrove TV in an attempt to increase local engagement between the community and local government and organised and chaired many local hustings. Dean also spent 12 years of army reserve service – again, supporting the needs of others.
Dean had been working with councillor Shirley Webb setting up a service to support those suffering with mental health issues.
His friend and colleague, Coun Michael Thompson said: “It is far easier to say who Dean was, rather than what he was.
“His want to better the lives of others and to put himself before the needs of others was unrivalled. I knew him as a friend and a colleague.
“There was never a time you would bump into Dean where he wouldn’t be smiling or enthusing about a community project he was involved in.
“Dean was always wonderfully objective in politics, always one to reach out to all sides for the betterment of Bromsgrove.”
Dean leaves behind a father, Ken, and daughter, Katie.
A remembrance service for Dean will take place at St Michael and All Angels Church, Stoke Prior at 11am on September 14, followed by a wake at the Hanbury Turn Pub.
