FORMER Cherwell District Council chairman and executive member Eric Heath has died aged 77.

Described as a true gentleman and “great community servant”, Mr Heath, from Bloxham, near Banbury, was a councillor for 11 years.

He took on local government roles at both Bloxham parish and the district council after he retired as director of Foster Refrigerator UK Ltd.

Mr Heath had travelled across the globe with the firm, which sold industrial scale refrigeration.

In 1981, he set up its Australian branch, spent 15 months in the country, and almost missed the birth of his son Michael, now 30.

His wife Chris, who won Mr Heath’s former Bloxham and Bodicote district council seat this May, planned to have the baby by Caesarean before he came home to stop him worrying.

But she said: “I fixed the date, and told him it was the day after, but he came the day before and caught me.”

Mr Heath marked 25 years’ service with Foster Refrigerator, but retired aged 60 due to heart problems.

Passionate about horses and horse racing, Mr Heath was also a talented carpenter and spent many hours in his garage workshop making items from wood. Mrs Heath said: “Even when he was ill, that was his lifeline.”

Mr Heath died after complications following a bowel operation.

Mrs Heath said she had been inundated with cards and messages, with many people describing Mr Heath as a “gentleman”.

Mr Heath also leaves two sons from a previous marriage, Graham, 52, and David, 50. His funeral is at St Mary’s Church, Bloxham, today at 1.30pm. His family have requested donations for the Churchill Hospital’s Dialysis Unit Trust Fund, in lieu of flowers.