Touching tributes have been paid to a Rotary Club president who died after an emergency operation.
Bungay Rotary Club is mourning the sudden death of its president, Michael Ingram.
The sad news of the death of the former paramedic and Royal Marine was given to Rotarians at their recent meeting, which was immediately abandoned out of respect for him.
Mr Ingram, 79, joined the Bungay Club about eight years ago, following the death of his wife Carol.
Immediate past president Terry Reeve, who had installed him as president for a second term in 2019, said that soon after Mr Ingram had joined he admitted how grateful he was to the club for its support and fellowship, at a time when he was feeling loss and loneliness after his wife’s death.
Mr Reeve said: “Rotary meant a lot to Mike – he valued the companionship, friendship and conversation at the weekly meetings.
“He put a lot into the club, particularly during his two spells as president, and we are all shocked at his sudden passing.
"We will remember him with fondness, and as a valuable club member.
"Our thoughts are with his partner, Valerie.”
Mr Ingram, who lived at Ellingham, was born in the Cotswolds in Worcestershire in 1941.
He joined the forces on leaving school, and as a 16-year-old he enrolled into the Royal Marines.
After training as a medical technician, during his 26 years of service in various parts of the world he rose to the office of Regimental Sergeant Major.
Mr Ingram saw service in Bosnia, Croatia, The Falklands, Northern Ireland and on ships patrolling in the vicinity of Russia during the Cold War.
While in the Marines he served in bands, playing the bugle and other wind instruments.
On leaving the forces in 1983 he joined the ambulance service and trained as a paramedic.
It was while training at a hospital in Blackpool that he met his wife, Carol.
When they moved to the Bungay area some years later, she became matron at the Adele House All Hallows nursing home in Bungay.
Mr Ingram worked in Hampshire, Lancashire and Suffolk, spending some years at the Beccles station before he retired at the age of 70.
For some years he was a member of the Friends of All Hallows Hospital fundraising committee.
He also had a love of classic cars, something which came from his father, Len Ingram, who was a director of the Alvis car company.
The funeral service for Mr Ingram will be at the Waveney Crematorium at Ellough on Wednesday, March 24 at noon.
Donations are invited in lieu of flowers for Help for Heroes, a charity he supported.
Bungay Rotary Club will be making a donation to the charity.
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