AWARD-winning press photographer, Salvation Army stalwart, wedding photographer and coach company operator, Roger Hooper has died of a heart attack at the age of 61.

Worcester born and bred, Roger worked in the photographic department of this newspaper for 23 years before leaving to set up his own business in 1983.

In 1976 he was runner-up in the Midlands Press Photographer of the Year with a portfolio of images ranging from workmen in Worcester's sewers to the rescue of a pilot from a crashed glider.

"One of the first things you noticed about Roger Hooper was his beaming smile," said former colleague and News columnist Mike Grundy. "He always seemed so cheery, no matter what was going on."

Roger was a third generation Salvationist. His family's connection stretched back to his grandfather Alfred, who began playing with the Salvation Army band in Worcester in 1902. His father Bram carried on the tradition and by the age of eight, Roger was playing in the Army's young person's band.

He later became a senior soldier and senior bandsman and was a familiar sight playing in the Army band on the streets of Worcester, particularly at Christmas.

Roger joined the paper, then colloquially known as "the News and Times", on January 4, 1960 straight from school and covered the whole gamut of local news stories from weddings to murders.

He went to Ireland with the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment at the height of "The Troubles" and down a Welsh coal mine with Mike Grundy.

After leaving, he set up his own wedding photography business.

"I quickly adopted the golden rule, 'Never upset the vicar'," he later recalled.

"If you did, they never let you back in the church for a start and the last thing you want at a wedding is an irate vicar stomping about."

Roger's sense of humour and fun made him a pleasure to work alongside.

I once accompanied him to the Elms Hotel at Abberley to cover an international Ferrari Owners' convention.

While the assorted nationalities enjoyed summer tea on the expansive lawns, we took the opportunity to sneak a look at some of their exotic vehicles and actually managed to sit in one or two which, much to our surprise, we found quite spartan and rather uncomfortable.

Driving home, Roger eased his very ample figure behind the wheel of his battered Austin 1100.

"Prefer this," he said. "More comfy. Those Italians don't know how to make real cars, do they?"

I could only nod in agreement as I waited for something to drop off the 1100 before we reached Worcester.

In fact, Roger was an accomplished motorist and drove transcontinental holiday coaches for several companies before setting up his own business, mostly involving community transport in the Worcester area.

His passengers were always assured of a laugh and a joke.

Roger Hooper, who lived in Bilford Road, Worcester, died in Worcestershire Royal Hospital following a series of heart attacks.

His funeral service will be on at 2.15pm on Friday, May 27, at the Salvation Army Hall in The Trinity, Worcester followed by burial at Astwood Cemetery.

MIKE GRUNDY WRITES...

I shared one of the most memorable days in my life with Roger Hooper in the mid-1980s when we went down the Merthyr Vale Mine at Aberfan.

At the time, the Evening News was carrying "Day in the Life" features on prominent personalities on the local scene - in this case, the Rev Bill Morgan who was standing as Labour candidate for the Worcester Constituency against sitting Tory MP Peter Walker.

Bill was the Church in Wales chaplain to the miners of Merthyr Vale and invited Roger and I to spend a day with him down the mine, meeting his "parishioners."

We rode down 600 feet in the cage lift and walked two-and-a-half miles to the working coalface and then back, fleetingly experiencing the appalling conditions endured every day by the miners including all temperatures, winds, dust and visibility in the tunnels.

I know that Roger found it a memorable day too, and it took about three weeks or so before we could get the remnants of coal dust out of our hair and clothes, despite repeated washing.

The pithead shower was also a novel experience.

Roger was always a cheery, amiable, amusing and competent colleague as a photographer and a friendly acquaintance with a beaming smile in his later vocations.