A much-loved former newsagent and parliamentary candidate has been hailed as a 'larger than life character' after his death.
Former Lowestoft deputy mayor David Young passed away aged 77 on November 17 after a battle with cancer.
As proprietor of Young's Newsagents in Lowestoft, the former Royal Marine was a popular and well-liked figure in the town, where he stayed for almost two decades.
In April 2007, he closed his store and retired to France less than a year later, where he continued his work as a caseworker for SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen Families Association), as well as being president of his local Royal British Legion branch.
During his service with the Royal Marines, Mr Young had been based in the Persian Gulf, Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo and Sarawak.
Mr Young had two children, Mark and James. Mark said: "He was a larger than life character, both in terms of personality and physically. He was the sort of man who took public service very seriously and felt it was important to give back to the community if you were able to.
"He lost his wife, my mother, when we were young but, as a family man, he supported my brother and I through our childhoods and took a very keen interest in our lives and his five grandchildren, who always gave him great happiness.
"He retired to France and had a very happy time there with his partner. He will be deeply missed by his family and everyone who knew him."
After serving as a member of the Suffolk Police Authority, Mr Young was elected to Waveney District Council as a Liberal Democrat for Kirkley, where he remained until 2008. In that time, he became leader of the Liberal Democrat and Independent group, as well as serving as deputy mayor for Lowestoft.
Ahead of the 2001 general election, Mr Young was chosen as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Waveney, where he finished third with more than 5,000 votes. In 2005, he stood again, this time for Suffolk Coastal, where he finished third with more than 11,500 votes.
Mark said: "It was a great honour for him to be deputy mayor of Lowestoft.
"He lived in the town for a long time and was an East Anglian man through-and-through, so it gave him great pleasure to be able to serve the people of Lowestoft."
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