Hundreds will pay their respects to former Lord Mayor of Bradford Stanley King (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

St Barnabas Church in Heaton to host funeral

7:00am Tuesday 16th October 2012 in News By Kathie Griffiths, T&A Reporter

Hundreds of mourners are expected at the funeral of former Bradford Lord Mayor Stanley King on Friday.

They will gather at St Barnabas Church in Heaton at noon to say their farewells to the 80-year-old who died in hospital after a short illness earlier this month.

Mr King’s niece, Deborah Bell, said her uncle, fascinated by history, had left characteristic notes studded with time-line dates that he wrote two years ago as instructions on how he wanted his life to be celebrated.

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Dale Smith, will be among those to pay their respects. Flags will be flying half-mast at Council offices across the district and the City Hall bell will ring out for him.

Mrs Bell said St Barnarbas Church had always had a special place in her uncle’s heart.

The church has been linked to milestones in Mr King’s family since 1865. It is where he was baptised in 1932 and confirmed 14 years later by Bishop Blunt.

Mr King also left instructions for the traditional 1662 Common Book of Prayer funeral service and for a selection of organ pieces to be played with Karg-Ellert’s Nun Danket as the “finale”, commenting “It’s my all time favourite piece”.

His final wishes for his funeral arrangements also stated: “Those who possess black ties, hats and suits can wear them. If a thing is worth doing then it’s worth doing properley. Other than that however, there’s no necessity for mourning. I have lived more than the scriptured three score years and ten and have done most of the things I wanted to do as well as some I never thought of doing.”

He mentioned serving Heaton longer than any other councillor, being the Lord Mayor at the turn of the millennium, writing history books and his passion for preserving vintage transport.

Mrs Bell said: “He wrote these instructions two years ago. They are very much him.”

Mr King served for almost 40 years on Bradford Council as a Conservative representative for Heaton until his retirement in 2008. In his notes he said: “I served my native city as well as I was able, wearing my heart on my sleeve at all times for Bradford.”

He became Lord Mayor of Bradford in 2000, only retiring from the Council in 2008. As well as obtaining the title of Lord of the Manor of Heaton, he was a founding member of Heaton Township Association and of his church choir.

He was also a published expert on buses, trams and trolleybuses in Bradford and Keighley. Members of the Bradford Trolleybus Association will also be at the funeral, including its chairman Gary Wilkinson.

He said: “It’s only fitting for Stanley we are there. He was such a great advocate of the restoration work we did.”

Family and friends are invited to a gathering to mark his life after his funeral service at the village hall close to the church. A private cremation will be at Nab Wood Crematorium, Shipley, next week.