About Gary

Gary Edward Crookes was born in Warrington on the 9^th February 1951, to James (Ted) who was an officer in the Fleet Air Arm, and later a teacher at Richard Fairclough Grammar School, & Joan, a clerical assistant. An only child, he enjoyed playing with his cousins in Warrington, Torquay and Blackpool when growing up.

He attended school in Warrington and joined the Air Training Corp where he got his Gliders Licence. After school Gary succeeded in achieving a BSc in Electronic Engineering at Bangor University.

It was at University that he met his future wife, Shirley. After leaving University in 1973, Gary worked for GEC initially as a field engineer in Coventry, Shirley's home town. They married in May, 1975.

Gary's real passion was serving his community and he did this through local politics. His political career started on the Burton Green Residents Association and Stoneleigh Parish Council, then he was elected a Coventry City Councillor for Wainbody ward in 1995.

Gary stayed with GEC, which became GPT, then Marconi, now Telent, until he retired in 2007, and then he increased his energy, efforts and responsibilities to his constituents and other Coventry residents.

In his time as a Councillor he served as Deputy Chair of Scrutiny, Chair of Scrutiny Board 2, Deputy Chair of Scrutiny Board 1, various other Scrutiny Boards, as a member of the Planning Committee and of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee. He was a Council appointed trustee on the boards of a number of charities. Gary also served on the board of the University of Warwick Science Park, being the Chair of the Audit Committee. He was a Governor of Finham Primary School and of St Bartholomew’s Church of England Primary School.

Gary became Lord Mayor of Coventry in May 2013 following a year as Deputy Lord Mayor. During his year as Lord Mayor he attended over 600 events promoting his adopted city with great pride, and he carried out the role with distinction.

Gary & Shiley have 2 children, Neil and Sian, and 5 grand children (4 girls and 1 boy).

His interests included reading the Daily Telegraph habitually, watching Rugby Union (he was an avid Wasps fan) & John Wayne films. He had an eclectic taste in music with vinyl from Tchaikovsky to Iron Maiden, but always had Classic FM on car radio.

As well as his family, Gary loved dogs. All dogs. But especially his King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, Archie, who was sorely missed following his passing in 2018. Gary would talk to him all the time, and talked to anyone with a dog, about dogs.

In addition to his kindness and generosity, Gary will always be remembered as a true gentleman, passionate in what he believed in, for being scrupulously fair, always keen on what was right and wrong, always respectful of the opinions of others even when disagreeing, his love of tea & biscuits and never throwing anything away.

Gary sadly passed away on 13^th June 2019 at the age of 68. He is very dearly missed, but will never be forgotten.