Family, neighbours, indoor bowls enthusiasts and ex-police colleagues are mourning the death of Keith Woods who was a prominent and recognisable pillar of the Spalding community for over 50 years.
Keith, who was a fiercely independent, chatty and extremely friendly 88-year-old, passed away at the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston on June 9 after a short, sharp illness.
As a young police inspector, Keith moved to Spalding on Boxing Day in 1972 with his wife, Pauline, who worked as a nursing sister at the old Johnson Hospital, and their two young sons, Jonathan and Alistair.
At 6’4” tall with a shock of thick white hair, he was a well-known figure in the town, building a reputation as a fair and popular law-enforcer and rising to the post of acting chief inspector.
When he retired from the police in 1987 Keith spent ten years as planning enforcement officer for South Holland District Council, before retiring fully to spend more time travelling with Pauline, perfecting his prowess at indoor bowls and doting on his beloved grandchildren Matthew, Amy, Florence, Isaac and Gregory.
He was elected chairman, and then president, of Spalding Indoor Bowls club at a time when the sport was enjoying a huge surge in popularity, and he was also chairman of the local branch of the British Heart Foundation.
Working together with Pauline, the pair helped raise over £250k for research.
Even into his 80s, whenever he nipped into town for a pint of milk or a newspaper Keith would be regularly stopped by someone saying “You’re Inspector Woods, aren’t you?” and, often, “I remember you putting me back on the straight and narrow when I was a kid”.
As a kind, generous and deeply caring public figure, Keith touched so many people’s lives.
Roger Perkins, an honorary life member at the bowls club like Keith, said: “During his lifetime he has worked tirelessly for the community” and his friend Ken Challans added: “a truly honest and fair man who always had time for a chat”.
Many others called him “a true gentleman” and commented on how he was always “very level-headed and unbiased”, consistently referring to him as “a lovely man”.
Keith’s funeral will be held at South Lincs Crematorium, Surfleet, at 1pm on July 11 and afterwards at The Sessions House, Spalding, which Keith remembered very fondly from its days as the town magistrates court where in the 1970s and 1980s he would regularly present evidence for the prosecution.
Keith’s sons Jonathan and Alistair are hoping people will consider making a donation to www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk to help support research into pancreatic cancer which ultimately took Keith and people he loved dearly.
