A FORMER train driver who went on to fight for his colleague’s rights for three decades will be remembered as a gentle, caring and sensible man.

Joe Kidd, from Darlington, died suddenly but peacefully on Sunday, July 19, aged 90.

The devoted great-grandfather was born in Westgate, in Weardale, County Durham, on October 1, 1924 but moved to Darlington in 1941.

At the age of 17 he began working on the railways as an engine cleaner before rising through the ranks to become a train driver.

He met his wife, Joan, in Darlington’s South Park on VE Day in 1945 and the couple married in 1949.

After the Second World War he joined the Labour Party before becoming the branch secretary of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) in the 1950s, where he stayed for 30 years.

He also became involved with Darlington’s Trades Union Council and lobbied for comprehensive education before serving as a JP in the town for 22 years.

As well as politics, Mr Kidd enjoyed growing chrysanthemums and dahlias, which remained his passion until the day he died.

He became chairman of the Darlington Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society and grew a number of flowers from seedlings, which he named after his grandchildren, including Neal Gilson and Charlotte Peacock.

His daughter, Elaine Hufford, described him as a gentle, caring and sensible man.

“So many people have said he was a lovely man. He was very sensible and caring, but if he had a cause he would fight for it until he got it,” she said.

“He wanted to help people and he would defend a (train) driver until the end if they were not in the wrong. He cared about people’s quality of life.

“He was a very gentle man who loved his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“He was always in the garden doing something – he was cutting hedges just the day before he died.”

He leaves behind his three children, Barbara, Valerie and Elaine, five grandchildren, Jackie, Charlotte, Neal, Matthew, and Louise, and two great-grandchildren Wilfred Joseph and Max.

His funeral will be held on Wednesday, July 29 at Darlington Crematorium.