HUNDREDS paid tribute yesterday to a former Examiner editor.

They packed into St Patrick's RC Church and into Huddersfield Crematorium for the funeral of Ivan Lee.

The mourners included many of his former newspaper colleagues.

But there were also people with whom he had worked in the community.

Mr Lee spent five years as a volunteer with Kirkwood Hospice.

And he was also a tireless charity worker with the Lions Club.

Mr Lee, a former long-serving editor of the Examiner and leading figure in Huddersfield life, died last week at the age of 75.

He edited the newspaper for 15 years from 1976, and was also chairman of Joseph Woodhead & Son, former owners of the Examiner which was acquired by the Trinity group in 1994.

After attending King James's Grammar School, Almondbury, Mr Lee joined the paper at the age of 16. His father Alfred, himself a former editor, was already a senior journalist there.

Following a break for two years' National Service in the RAF, Mr Lee continued his 45-year career at the Examiner, holding positions as reporter, sub-editor, production editor, deputy editor and finally editor.

He was instrumental in the introduction of new technology in the 1980s and oversaw the paper's move from its former home in Ramsden Street to Queen Street South.

During his early career, he was a member of the Young Newspapermen's Association and later the Yorkshire Region of the Guild of Editors.

Among his proudest achievements was the campaign in 1987 which raised £500,000 for a body scanner at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Away from the office, he was a tireless worker for charity through Huddersfield Lions Club and served on the Parole Board of Wakefield Prison.

He was a magistrate on the Huddersfield bench for many years and, after his retirement, a volunteer driver for Kirkwood Hospice.

Judith Robinson, volunteer co-ordinator at the hospice, said: "He joined us in 1996 as a volunteer and worked for five years.

"He regularly drove patients to our day care centre and was often the first point of contact for many of them with the hospice.

"He had a lovely manner and put people at their ease, and was a valuable member of our team."

As a young man, Ivan was a keen distance runner with Longwood Harriers and maintained a lifelong interest in walking and cycling.

Always seeking new challenges, he held a private pilot's licence and made parachute jumps. He was also a radio ham and enthusiastic follower of motorsport.

Former colleague Alan Driscoll, who worked with Mr Lee for many years at the Examiner, said: "He was a very active man and many will remember him striding out on the streets of Huddersfield."

He met Mary, who was a WPc with Huddersfield Police, during his time as a court reporter and they married in 1954.

He leaves his wife, four children Marcus, David, Mandy and John, and five grandchildren.