Tributes paid to Shropshire Star production pioneer Vernon

Vernon Parsons died at his home in Bomere Heath, near Shrewsbury, aged 81.

Mr Parsons joined the Shropshire Star team on June 29, 1964, less than four months before the paper's launch. Building work on the new printing works at Ketley had only begun the previous January, and Mr Parsons was one of a team frantically working around the clock to ensure the paper was ready for its launch date of October 5.

He remained with the company for 29 years, and served as deputy production manager before taking early retirement in February 1993.

His widow Sheila said the newspaper had been a huge part of his life.

"We saw rather little of him at home at the beginning, when he was helping to set up the Shropshire Star.

"Printing was a very big part of his life, as well as drinking with his colleagues afterwards."

Mrs Parsons said her husband had been ill for several months and spent a lot of time in hospital, where on one occasion he received a visit from a man he had trained many years ago.

"He said how much Vernon had helped him, and wanted to thank him," she said.

Richard Green, who was the Shropshire Star's works director from 1989 to 1996, said Mr Parsons was hugely respected by the management and workforce alike.

"Vernon was a stalwart of the production team, and played a key part in managing the innovative technology introduced at the Shropshire Star," he said.

"The Shropshire Star was the first paper to have full-colour technology, and he was at the centre of that, he was highly respected for his knowledge.

"He was effectively my deputy when I arrived, and he was a huge help to me personally.

"He was held in high esteem by his fellow managers, and also by the people who worked for him on a day-to-day basis, because he would always make time for people.

"People respected him because he was always approachable, firm but fair."

Alan Palin, who took over from Mr Parsons as deputy production manager in 1993, said he was a huge influence on him.

"When I started as a compositor in 1985, it was Vern who trained me," he said.

"He trained all the lads who started that year, and then as we grew in knowledge and confidence, he was able to go back to his other duties."

Mr Palin said he was a formidable character who commanded huge respect.

"Vern was a lovely bloke, but very fierce," he said. "People feared him, but underneath he knew his job, he knew what it was about.

"He was a really great guy to work with, he was like a father figure, people respected him."

The two worked closely together once more in 1992 and 1993, as Mr Palin prepared to take over from him.

"I was initially supposed to work with him for 12 months, but it ended up being six months as he took early retirement," said Mr Palin.

"It was then that I began to see a different side to him. His main interest was in fishing, sea fishing, fly-fishing."

Helen Riley, receptionist at the Shropshire Star's head office in Ketley, Telford, knew him from when she joined the company in 1988 up until his retirement.

"He was a lovely, kind, helpful and charismatic man," she said.

He leaves two sons who both work in the Cambridge area: Leon, who is a software engineer, and Alex, a biochemist.