A dedicated parish councillor who fought to secure cash for a major refurbishment of a community centre in his South Staffordshire village has died following a two-year battle with cancer.

Councillor Lionel Saunders, who died on Tuesday at the age of 65, was today described as “the perfect gentleman” and “one heck of a man”.

As well as serving on Essington Parish Council, he edited the St John’s Church magazine for more than 20 years and was a governor at both St John’s C of E Primary School and Cheslyn Hay High School.

He leaves his wife Diane and two children, David and Ruth.

Mrs Saunders, of Forrest Avenue, Essington, said her husband had remained committed to the community until his final days. “He was a loving husband and a wonderful father. He was one of those proper gentleman,” she said.

“He always tried to be active in the community, and did a lot of great work for the area.

“Even when he was on crutches, he still wanted to get into work and was still active in the community. He never let it get him down.

“We all love him greatly and everyone is going to miss him terribly.

“He was one heck of a man.”

Elected in 1999 as a ward councillor for Essington Central, councillor Saunders – who worked as a buyer for a German firm – was actively involved in getting a revamp of the community centre off the ground in 2008. So far, it has had around £200,000 of works on it so far with another £200,000 to go.

He was also involved in a campaign to get a new cemetery for the village in 2009 after it emerged there were only 30 spaces left  in the St John’s Church graveyard.

He was diagnosed with cancer two years ago.

Parish council chairman David Clifft today paid tribute to the “dedicated” councillor.

“He was very well-known in the village because of the work he did,” he said.

“He was a real gentleman. It was a privilege to work next to someone who was so devoted to the community, and absolutely dedicated to his family.” A funeral will be held on February 6 at St John’s Church, starting at 11.15am.