A POPULAR resident who collected poppies for the Royal British Legion for more than 60 years has passed away.
Rowland Hill of Towncourt Lane, Petts Wood, passed away on May 1 at the age of 88.
Mr Hill lived in the town for more than 70 years after moving to the area in 1935.
In 1948 he joined the town’s branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL) and started collecting half crowns, shillings and pennies for RBL’s Poppy Appeal and last November he celebrated 60 years of voluntary service.
Poppy Appeal organiser and vice president of the branch, David Manning, said: “He was a very popular guy and well liked.
“He was what I would call a gentle man and he cared for the community.”
The 70-year-old added: “Everyone had the utmost respect for him, it is very difficult to replace a man like that.
Mr Hill first began collecting from odd-numbered houses in Kingsway and even-numbered houses in Wood Ride but his round grew over the years to include Crofton Lane, Towncourt Lane and Bushey Avenue.
Mr Manning added: “He did not have any enemys, he tried to help everybody, he will be sorely missed.”
The resident of Kingsway, Petts Wood, also said: “He was always there to help everyone he could, it is a great loss.”
Mr Hill who was born in 1921, the same year that the RBL started, had six grandchildren and a son and daughter.
In 1942, at the age of 21, he joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and was posted to Italy as an anti-tank gunner before being posted to Palestine.
When he returned in 1947, he resumed his career in the optical trade, in which he worked for 43 years.
As well as Mr Hill going door to door to collect poppies, he also organised the Petts Wood Remembrance Day Service for 50 years and was also a committed Christian and faith healer, running weekly healing clinics in the area.
On his 88th birthday, three days before he passed away, Mr Hill received an award from the mayor of Bromley for his outstanding voluntary service to the community.
To learn more about the RBL’s work visit britishlegion.org.uk/
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