HE was a friendly, familiar figure in Brockholes for many years. So much so that many of the residents called Frank Kavanagh ‘Grandad’.

Now the 90-year-old former security officer has died.

Mr Kavanagh, who was born in Edmonton, London, lived in the Holme Valley for many years but spent the last two years of his life with his daughter Susan in Denby Dale.

He joined the RAF as a physical training instructor and spent many years in the service before moving to West Yorkshire in 1958 with his wife Dorothy and taking up a job with the Central Lads Club in Huddersfield.

The couple lived first in Dalton and later in Berry Brow before the move to Brockholes.

Mr Kavanagh spent many years working as a security officer with well-known Huddersfield companies including Brook Motors, ICI and Case Tractors.

He joined the Brockholes Village Trust and was secretary for many years and also served as a local councillor with Holme Valley Parish Council.

Mr Kavanagh also worked in a voluntary capacity with schools, including Brockholes Junior & Infant School and Holmfirth Junior School..

His daughter Susan said: “He was always active and was a very familiar figure in the area. He never learned to drive and walked everywhere, and people of all ages knew him as ‘Grandad’.”

Mr Kavanagh enrolled in local adult education classes and in his late 80s was studying genealogy and Japanese.

In his younger days he was a jazz drummer and also active with amateur dramatic societies. He was stage manager at the Brook Motors AODS for several years.

He played cricket into his 70s, latterly with the Rock, and was still playing pool into his 80s.

A funeral service takes place at Huddersfield Crematorium at 11.30am on Friday, July 15.