Gilbert Jarvis, a newspaper industry stalwart who started his career at the Express & Star, has died aged 81.

Mr Jarvis, from Bridgnorth, retired in May 1988. He worked his way up to managing director of the Express & Star’s sister titles at Shropshire Weekly Newspapers and served with its parent company Midland News Association for more than 45 years.

Joining the Express & Star during the war, he initially worked for the company secretary and circulation department.

In 1963 he moved to the Shropshire Star where he was the assistant to Alan Graham, who was then the newspaper’s general manager.

Mr Jarvis was later appointed general manager of Shropshire Weekly Newspapers, with seven weekly newspapers circulating in Shropshire and Mid Wales, and then managing director. He also became an MNA director. He was responsible for introducing the successful Hit It competition to the Express & Star – originally called Mark the Ball. Mr Jarvis was also for many years secretary and treasurer of the Express & Star Social Club.

A widower – his wife Margaret died in 2000 – he leaves son Phil and daughter-in-law Suzanne, and grandchildren Joe and Ollie.

Phil Jarvis, from Tong, near Shifnal, said: “He was doing his Christmas shopping on Wednesday afternoon at Telford town centre and was walking back to his car, when he collapsed with a heart problem. They rushed him to the Princess Royal Hospital and we went to see him that night and he was talking and laughing and joking.

“He passed away on Thursday morning at nine o’clock. He was as fit as a fiddle and had never really been ill before. It’s a bit of a shock to everybody.”

Mr Jarvis was born in France in 1928. “His father was an English soldier and his mother was a French lady that my grandad had met over there while fighting in the First World War,” Mr Jarvis added. “He settled in France and towards the end they lived in Calais. When the Germans invaded in 1940 they left on a fishing boat. My father moved to England at the age of 12.”

The family settled in Wolverhampton and Gilbert Jarvis began working for the Express & Star as a teenager.

One of his big interests in retirement was walking. “He walked all the canals in England with a couple of his friends, stage by stage, over a number of years. That kept him very fit and active,” Mr Jarvis said.

Funeral arrangements will be confirmed later.