Nigel was ‘wonderful’ man

A former ironmonger who served on the board of several Dewsbury charities has passed away.
Nigel Brook.Nigel Brook.
Nigel Brook.

Nigel Brook sat on Sitlington Parish Council in Wakefield for more than 34 years and on three occasions he was chairman.

He was the parish council representative for the Walker and Greenwood Educational Charity and the Thornhill Poors Estate Charity.

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Aspokesperson for Thornhill Poors Estate Charity said: “Nigel was a wonderful person who gave so freely of his time to help others, and was of a breed that is few and far between and he leaves the community to mourn a great loss at his passing.”

Mr Brook was also a member of St John’s Masonic Lodge, Dewsbury.

Born in Dewsbury in 1945 at Moorlands Nursing Home, he was head boy at Dewsbury Technical College and went to Cardiff University.

He travelled with the Commonwealth Expedition to India and Pakistan with the University Choir of Wales and sang for Mahatma Gandhi.

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Mr Brook joined the family firm, T Brook and Sons, which had been started by his grandfather Tom Brook in 1912.

The ironmongers, based in Dewsbury and Ravensthorpe, later became part of Dixon Hall in 1969.

Mr Brook joined the firm the year before the takeover.

When Mr Brook started, the valley was full of industrial premises, with many of the textiles manufacturers.

The firm supplied the mills with all the hardware and ironmongery they needed.

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Today, with most of the manufacturing long gone, many of those old mills have become shops or apartments.

Mr Brook enjoyed working at the firm from starting in the warehouse to working as sales director and, for the last 10 years before he retired, as managing director.

Mr Brook was married for 43 years to his wife, Janet. They lived in Middlestown.

The couple had a son, Howard, and a daughter, Helena, who lives in Abu Dhabi with her husband and three children. He also had granddaughter, Hannah.

During his retirement, Mr Brook was a school governor at Middlestown School for more than 30 years.

Mr Brook passed away in November aged 69.

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