Cross Hills man Harry Proud – who was the focus of a successful fundraising appeal – has died aged 77.

Mr Proud was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1999. His wife, Eileen, launched Harry’s Appeal in 2007 to raise £10,000 for Craven branch of the Alzheimer’s Society.

Mr Proud was born in Agbrigg, Wakefield, where he lived until aged 11.

His parents, Norman and Isabella, bought a guest house in Blackpool and Harry studied textile design until he was 16.

Having moved to Kilnsey, he saw National Service in Germany and Hong Kong.

He met his future wife in 1956 and they married the following year, with their twins born in 1958. After 12 years in farming – by which time the couple had two more sons – Mr Proud retrained as an agricultural engineer, working at Smith Brothers at Kildwick.

At Cowling, he was on the PTA at South Craven School in Cross Hills and a parish councillor. Moving to Cross Hills in 1976, he later joined North Yorkshire County Council, servicing vehicles.

His wife looked after him until he moved to Threshfield Court in Grassington. The funeral was at Holy Trinity Church in Cowling and a collection raised £511 for the Friends of Airedale, to be spent on the dementia ward garden.