Tributes paid to Ryedale Alderman James Goodwill

Born in Nunnington, the sixth child of 12, Mr Goodwill left school at 15 and joined the family farming business before learning butchery with Wrights in York.

He was called up to the Royal Signals in 1939, and during his service trained with commandos, spent five days trapped on the beach at Dunkirk, and landed in Normandy in 1944, before fighting through France, Belgium and Germany.

Vivienne Knaggs was a friend of Mr Goodwill, and said: “He took part in the Ardennes campaign where his unit was cut off and where he once spent 50 hours on the radio before his troop were finally relieved. He has often recalled how he spent Christmas Day near the Waterloo Monument with a corned beef sandwich and not even a cup of tea.”

After he was demobbed Mr Goodwill joined the Foreign Office carrying out cipher work in Berlin, before he transferred to the War Department in the 1950s, and became an executive officer at Fulford Barracks.

In 1959, Mr Goodwill became a councillor on and later chairman of Flaxton Rural District Council, and in 1974 became a founder member of the new Ryedale District Council, when the smaller authorities joined together.

Mr Goodwill chaired the planning committee on the district council until he retired in 1983, and in 1984 he was made an Honorary Alderman. He also became a Mason in Francis Drake of York Lodge, eventually achieving the status of Master.

Following the death of his first wife, Mary, Mr Goodwill bought a shop near the old District Hospital to supply general goods to visitors, and later he bought and developed other properties around York.

He married his second wife, Nancy, in 1972, and they moved to Claxton, where he enjoyed gardening, entertaining friends and travelling until Nancy’s death in 2003.

Ms Knaggs said: “Jim and Nancy were renowned for their hospitality, kindness and loyalty across a wide range of people of all ages”.

Mr Goodwill died at Rivermead Nursing Home on June 25, after an 18-month illness.