ROBERT John Burton, a woodworker, teacher and trade unionist, has died.
Mr Burton, known as Bob, was born in 1931, the son of Frederick and Rita Burton, and was brought up in Northwood.
He went to school at Northwood Elementary School and Cowes Secondary Modern and left aged 14 before starting an apprenticeship as a joiner in 1946.
His father died aged just 44 and Mr Burton's mother was left to bring him and his sister up in the years of post-war austerity.
Aged 18, Mr Burton met Muriel Sprake. They became engaged and eventually married, raising four daughters.
At 18, he joined the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers, beginning a lifetime of trade union membership.
His interests were varied, but football took pride of place, as well as the scout movement.
He played for Cowes Old Boys and later became a referee, refereeing matches across Hampshire and IW for seven years.
After completing his apprenticeship, he was called up for National Service for two years, plus three and a half years in the Territorial Army.
After that, he went back to working in JS White's boat shop and eventually the shipyard.
He later became a carpentry and joinery instructor and then become a lecturer at Southampton Technical College, teaching ship joinery and training apprentices.
He remained there for 20 years before taking early retirement in 1990.
During his retirement, he and his wife bought a 50ft narrowboat, which they fitted out and kept for 17 years, travelling all over the UK.
Mr Burton carried on with his trade union affiliation and served as secretary of Cowes and District Trade Unions Council for 22 years, retiring from that post in 2015.
That was a bad year for Mr Burton's family as his second daughter Debbie died.
Mr Burton served as a trade unionist on the Family Health Services Authority (FHSA) for 17 years.
He also was a trade union appointee as a governor at the IW College for eight years.
Both he and his wife had a wide circle of friends and met people on their travels who they remained in touch with.
Mr Burton wrote a book on the history of Northwood through the 1930s to 1950s.
He and Mrs Burton prided themselves on their family of all girls, their seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
He and his wife had the good fortune of being together for 61 years, before she died in February 2017.