TRIBUTES have poured in following the death of a former town and county councillor who helped both preserve the history of his beloved Redditch and shape its future.

Walter Stranz, 81, died at Rashwood Nursing Home in Droitwich on Wednesday after a 22-year battle against Parkinson's Disease.

Mr Stranz was a hugely respected figure in the town, as a councillor, mayor and council leader and was the only person to have been made Freeman of the Borough in Redditch's history.

He was born in Berlin in 1924. Despite being Christian, his family were of Jewish stock and in 1939 his father reluctantly accepted they should flee Nazi Germany to the refuge of Britain.

Mr Stranz and his sister Gertrude were allowed to take two items - both bought their stamp collections and she, her violin, Walter, his much-loved cello.

He studied at Watford Boys Grammar School and was awarded an international scholarship to Durham University.

Despite being a history student, in 1943 he was asked to teach maths - a war relevant subject - at a boys' boarding school.

One of his students was Nigel Lawson - the future chancellor of the exchequer under Margaret Thatcher. The irony of a staunch socialist shaping the mathematical skills of the Tory who was to later hold the country's purse strings was not lost on Mr Stranz.

He came to teach at Redditch County High School in 1948 and it was here he met wife Betty when she studied history under him.

Mr Stranz joined the Labour Party in 1950 and was voted on to the Batchley Ward of the council in 1952.

The couple married in 1962 after Walter had been appointed chair of Redditch Urban District Council.

They were met outside the Congregational Church by the national press, revelling in the fact that Redditch Council's leader was marrying his former pupil.

They later had two children, Jane and Richard.

In 1974 Mr Stranz became a county councillor. As certain powers were diverted away from Redditch Council, he was determined to stay involved in decision making.

A dedicated historian, he became engrossed in town planning and used his passion as chair of the Town and Country Planning Association and a member of Redditch Development Corporation.

His skills were put to their hardest test as Redditch New Town was planned in the sixties.

But in 1984 he resigned from his teaching career, demoralised by cuts he was being asked to make in his department.

Mrs Stranz said: "He would rather carry on doing something he loved but wasn't paid for - serving the people of Redditch - than being paid to teach, a job he had come to loathe."

A year before, he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease but was yet to feel the effects of the debilitating illness.

In 1986 he was appointed town mayor and stepped down as council leader in favour of a younger man - his junior by one year, Albert Wharrad.

Despite the urgings of his peers, Mr Stranz refused to have his name put forward for an MBE.

Mrs Stranz said: "Walter did nothing for honours or medals, everything he did was because he loved this town - I think that was reflected in the book he wrote in 1994, Me and My Town.

In March 1994, he was admitted as the first and only Freeman of Redditch in recognition of more than four decades of service.

His health later deteriorated but Mrs Stranz said his passion for Redditch never lessened.

"Politics and Redditch Council were in his blood - they never left him.

"I was so proud of Walter, he will be missed terribly."

Former county councillor Tom Wareing said: "He always had a tremendous sense of the critical importance of maintaining Redditch's history.

"As his Parkinson's got worse he was an example to us all, fighting the upset of physical disability while maintaining his remarkable mental powers.

"His work for the betterment of humankind in Redditch and Worcestershire will long be remembered with huge respect."

Mr Stranz' funeral will be held at the Ecumenical Centre, Evesham Walk at 2pm tomorrow.