THE family of a man who became well known to “everybody” in Darlington have paid tributes to an “immaculate and generous” father.

John Ernest Recker, who worked his way up to becoming the general manager of Woolworths on Northgate, died on Saturday, April 11.

A “generous and an all-round community man” the 84-year-old, who was father to Fiona, David, June, Abigail and Robert, spent more than thirty years working for the former High Street chain.

Mr Recker, who grew up on West Auckland Road, climbed the ranks before finally becoming store manager where he became a familiar face to everybody in the town.

Paying tribute to a man filled with “enthusiasm and ambition,” daughter Fiona Recker told The Northern Echo how he created a legacy.

She said: “He was born in Bishop Auckland and brought up on West Auckland Road. When he was about 14 years old, he sang in Durham Cathedral and made a record called ‘Out of The Wings of a Dove. After he spent a year travelling on his own in Switzerland, he started working for Woolworths in Darlington.

“Over the years his job took him all around Ireland in Cork, Strabane and then onto Blackpool, Hartlepool and then back to Darlington as he progressed.”

Ms Recker, who said he managed to balance home life with running the ‘sixth biggest’ Woolworths in the UK, said how his role in Darlington made him a community man.

She said: “He did lots of charity work in and around Darlington when he was at Woolworths, most Easters he would donate Easter eggs to Darlington Memorial Hospital. He loved the town and the community.

“Darlington was the sixth biggest store in the country, and he got to know everybody, he chatted to everybody and people got to know him around the town.

“He had about forty staff members working for him, he loved the store and everyone in it. Woolworths was his life.

“He was very pro-women in work, he wanted them to do well. He wanted them to have the best careers. One time, he managed to get one of his employees into the ‘Wonder of Woolies’ Christmas advert.”

Describing Mr Recker as a “new man”, Ms Recker said how the family were often taken on day trips at every opportunity away from work.

She said: “He loved cars, he had a grey Jaguar XJS and he would always take us out places – he was so ambitious for his children and wanted us to do well but enjoy ourselves.”

But after more than three decades working for Woolworths – which closed its doors across the UK for the last time in 2009 - Mr Recker retired from his role.

Mr Recker, who lived on Kielder Drive in Darlington following his retirement, eventually moved into Riverside View Care Home on Hutton Avenue where he lived for more than six years.

Ms Recker added: “Dad was always physically fit, he loved business and politics. He was immaculate, well-dressed, even up until recently he was always clean-shaven.

“He had a quiet and peaceful retirement.”

An inquest into Mr Recker's death recorded a verdict of Covid-19 and natural causes.