Tributes to Shrewsbury's 'lovely, kind and unassuming' Tim King
Tributes have been paid to a "lovely, kind and unassuming" Shrewsbury man, whose work in events and tourism brought joy to thousands.
Tim King, a former tourism officer, died suddenly over the weekend.
He was a popular figure in Shropshire after moving up from Somerset in 2006 to work for the South Shropshire District Council, before moving to Shropshire Council to be its tourism officer and later visitor economy development officer.
Since retiring in 2016, he helped organise Shropshire's First World War Film Festival in 2018, became a director for Shrewsbury Heritage and volunteered for Alzheimers Research UK.
More recently, he played a key role in organising Shrewsbury's Beatles Weekend with Mayor Phil Gillam last year, which raised thousands of pounds for the Samaritans.
Councillor Gillam grew close to Mr King over that period, and paid a heartfelt tribute to his friend.
He said: "Whenever I was in Tim’s company it was like we were two 12-year-old school pals hanging out together. We made each other laugh and we had so much in common.
Passion
"Over the last couple of years we went to a number of concerts together, most memorably a sun-drenched June evening at Astley Village Hall, enjoying the beautiful acoustic folk-rock of Shropshire-based band Whalebone.
"Whenever I listen to Whalebone from now on I will think of lovely, kind, smiling, unassuming Tim.
"Although I had known Tim previously on and off for several years it was during the planning for the Beatles Weekend – and the weekend itself – that we saw so much of each other and cemented our friendship.
"Be in no doubt – the Shrewsbury Beatles Weekend simply would not have happened without Tim King. It was Tim’s wonderful enthusiasm, passion and commitment that brought this event to its fruition.
"It was Tim who arranged the bookings of all the films, organised the souvenir mugs, T-shirts, sweatshirts and even fridge magnets.
"He also put tremendous effort into the beautiful 24-page souvenir programme, and it was Tim who persuaded our three brilliant special guests to join us for the festivities, for Q&A sessions and to introduce the films – Beatles author David Bedford, Beatles documentary maker Roger Appleton, and Cara Spencer – the daughter of famous Beatles photographer Terence Spencer.
"The weekend itself was simply magical. Tim and I agreed it was one of the best things we’d ever been involved in.
"Tim King, what a guy."
