TRIBUTES have been paid to a "quietly determined" trade unionist who recently died at his Gloucestershire care home, at the age of 101.
Raymond Saunders, who lived in Nailsworth, was a lifelong Labour supporter who campaigned for a fairer society throughout his working life.
He was influential in setting up a union at a foundry in Newman Henders, in Woodchester, where he worked from the age of 14.
He moved on to work for a smaller company near Stroud before retiring at Bristol Diecasting Company, in Ebley,
aged 65.
His 67-year-old son Martin, said he received a telegram from both the Queen and Conservative Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan-Smith MP.
"He was always interested in making sure that society played fair," said Martin.
"He was not a firebrand or a tub thumper but he was quietly determined."
Away from Mr Saunders' working life, he was a keen birdwatcher and volunteered to keep an eye on peregrine falcon eggs at Symonds Yat Rock in the Forest of Dean.
Mr Saunders, who became foreman at both foundries he worked at, passed away at Steppes Care Home, Nailsworth, on Wednesday June 11. He was the youngest of four boys and two girls.
He is survived by four children, David, 72, Ruth, 70, Martin, 67, Phillip, 65, as well as ten grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
He was born in Woodchester on June 21, 1912, and lived independently until January this year
He married Kathleen at Nailsworth Parish Church in October 1936.
