Frank Evans, one of Enderby’s ‘characters’, passed away on Sunday 25th February, aged 92.
Frank was for many years a Councillor on Enderby Parish Council, standing down in 2015 due to ill health.
Cllr. Tracy Green, a long-standing member of Enderby Parish Council, told the Leicester Mercury:
“He was a very kind man and we used to have lovely little chats on our way home from meetings together.”
“He also used to be a lollipop man in the village so everyone knew him and said hello. He was very well-loved in the community and a very interesting man.”
Frank had led a very active and varied life including active service in France during the Second World War. In January 2017 he was awarded the Légion D’honneur from the French government for his service in France.
Born in Derby, Frank relocated to the south of England at 6yrs of age, having been orphaned in tragic circumstances. (Frank’s father was knocked off his bike and died and his mother took her own life not long after).
Returning to Leicestershire in 1942, Frank lived locally before enlisting in the Royal Navy for the final year of the war. In latter years he made his home on Kipling Drive, Enderby.
A committed churchgoer and a member of the Prayer Book Society, Frank was well known by parents and pupils of local schools in the role of ‘Lollipop Man’ shepherding them across King Street close to the junction with Cross Street.
Frank was a prolific letter writer and sent many hundreds of letters to the Leicester Mercury; according to the newspaper there were ‘more than 130 published in the past 20 years alone, addressing issues of every size‘.
Cllr. Green added:
“I remember when I moved to this area in 1963 he was already writing to the Mercury regularly.
“He will be sadly missed.”