Roger Rose

Roger Rose

Roger Rose, who has died aged 65, was a hospital fund-raiser who generated thousands of pounds for local asthma and diabetes clinics as a grateful customer.

Despite his own poor health he battled on to stage at least two country music dances a year and handed over more than £8,000 to doctors in recent years.

Mr Rose, from Mundesley, was a country music fan all his life and enjoyed staging the events at North Walsham Community Centre.

His lodgings landlady for more than 20 years Jean Westgate said: “The doctors brought Roger back several times, and he was grateful. He loved his country music and had a kind heart. Planning the next concert is what kept him going.”

Mr Rose worked at a sweet factory and was a window cleaner in his earlier life. He was heavily involved in local football, as a linesman and supporter of Mundesley.

When diabetes, asthma and heart problems meant he could be less active, he turned to the music events, said Mrs Westgate, the former owner of Peggotty's café at Cromer, where Mr Rose initially lodged.

He also helped out at Mundesley's lifeboat charity shop, where he had been working just days before his death at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital after failing to recover from his latest heart attack.

Mr Rose raised funds for the diabetes clinic at Cromer Hospital and the respiratory clinic at the N&N, as well as the occasional event for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

His co-promoter Janice Amies said they had become friends through the work and paid tribute to “a man you could not help liking.”

She intended to carry on the bookings he had already made, including the next one starring Andy Morris and Marc James on May 12, in aid of the air ambulance.

A date for the funeral has yet to be arranged.