Former UDC chairman dies

Eddie Chandler chaired the authority for its final 12 months from May 1973 before it was replaced by Arun District Council.

Mr Chandler, who had become a Conservative councillor in 1969, joined the new authority.

But he left after about three years because he was unhappy about the way it worked.

His wife, Nancy, said: 'Eddie liked helping people by picking up the phone and asking someone to do something.

'He disliked having to go through what he called bureaucratic committees to get anything done.'

His public service also included a spell as a governor of Felpham Comprehensive School around its opening in September 1974.

Mr Chandler passed away suddenly in hospital on November 17. He had been sufferng from progressive supranuclear palsy, which is a brain disorder closely related to Parkinson's disease. He was aged 78.

His funeral was held at Chichester Crematorium.

Mr and Mrs Chandler moved to Bognor in 1962. Mr Chandler become the sub postmaster of the Station Road Post Office.

He stayed there for 25 years until 1987. The combination of such a busy role with his time as a councillor ensured he remained popular.

'He was always surprised when he walked down the High Street 20 years after he left the Post Office that people would still recognise him.

'He was a real old-fashioned gentleman. He always tipped his hat to everyone and gave up his seat to a woman,' Mrs Chandler said.

Mr Chandler was a Cockney being born within the range of the Bow Bells in East London.

He and Mrs Chandler, who was born in Hertfordshire, had been married 55 years.

Their previous business ventures included running a sub-post office in Chiswick, West London, a grocery shop in Hove, a Bournemouth hotel and a hotel in Lancing from where they moved to Bognor.

Mr and Mrs Chandler had been married for 55 years.

They lived in Rose Green and have one daughter, Vanessa.