POPULAR and respected borough councillor Jack Kemish died, aged 71, at his Romsey home this week.

A well-known figure in town, Jack had been a tireless organiser of Romsey Carnival before becoming a councillor. He was the moving force behing the project to give the town a new bandstand and lobbied hard for the town's treacherous pavements to be repaired. Jack became ill shortly after his re-election to Test Valley Borough Council last year but despite a major operation in July 2003 followed by two courses of chemo-therapy he continued to work from home as often as he could.

Jack died in his own home surrounded by his family on Saturday , and he leaves two sons, Terry and Ray, and grandchildren, Holly, Freddie, James, Harriet and Rhys.

His funeral service will take place in Romsey Abbey on Monday at 2.45pm and his wife and family are hoping that as many of his friends will attend.

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley said of Jack: "He had his beliefs and he stuck to them. He was someone who felt very strongly about retaining the character of Romsey and was involved in and around the town before he became a councillor. He will be remembered with a lot of fondness."

Jean Denham, chairman of the Riverside Gardens Association, described him as someone who was always straightforward and reliable. She commented: "People here in Riverside Gardens have said for years that he was the best councillor we ever had.

"He would take up our causes and fight for us. We knew if we contacted him he would come and if he thought we were in trouble, he would just arrive without us asking.

"That is what he did in the winter of 2000 when we were in danger of flooding. He came asking if we needed help and giving us sensible advice on things like getting sandbags from the council. Beyond all that, he was always cheerful, a lovely man. We are glad to have known him and will certainly miss him."

Fellow borough councillor Caroline Nokes said: "Jack was a dedicated Councillor, one who worked tirelessly to achieve the best that he could for Romsey. To Jack politics did not matter, he simply sought to serve the local community, and he did that well.