IF ever a local boy made good it had to be Harry Crippin. Harry, who became one of Britain's top civic administrators, was just as happy playing snooker or enjoying a pint with his old mates in Tyldesley as he was entertaining the Pope or bestowing the Freedom of Cardiff on the People's Princess.
Last Thursday he died aged 71 after a losing a short battle against cancer of the pancreas.
But in his lifetime the Tyldesley lad made his mark entertaining a host of celebrities in his role as Cardiff's Chief Executive.
VIPs don't come any bigger than the Pope or Diana, Princess of Wales, Prince Charles, the Queen Mother, Prince Andrew, Tiger Bay temptress Shirley Bassey or Sir Jimmy Savile.
To Harry and his late, Leigh-born wife, Hilda, sharing their life with the stars was a regular occurrence.
Born in Milk Street, Tyldesley, Harry attended Darlington Street "Mission" School and during the war was a pupil at Leigh Grammar School. In 1945 he began work in the finance department at Tyldesley Urban District Council and by 1951 was appointed chief assistant to the town clerk.
In 1956 he became a legal assistant in Widnes Corporation chief clerk's office and two years later moved to Manchester Corporation as senior administrative assistant, then from 1968-70 was Manchester's assistant town clerk.
A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators he moved to South Wales and in 1975 became Cardiff City Council secretary and deputy Chief Executive.
During his period as chief executive from 1979-88 he and Hilda, kept close company with the rich and famous during high profile visits to the Principality.
That included honouring the Pope and Princess Di with the Freedom of Cardiff -- but old pals were made just as welcome when they visited the Crippins at their home in Llandaff.
The Crippins' close friends, Tyldesley couple Bill and Nancy Pearson, related how his high civic rank hadn't made Harry oblivious of his roots.
Bill recalled: "He was still down to earth and we remained good friends. He liked nothing better than to visit Tyldesley and have a game of snooker with Charlie Morris or down a few pints in the Half Moon -- and he could smoke Hamlets like they were going out of fashion."
And Nancy said: "Harry's wife Hilda, who died on February 26 1990, was my best friend. Her mother Olive Green is 92 and still lives in Pennington Road, Leigh.
"Harry was somebody local people can feel very proud of."
A keen sportsman, Harry was a renowned fast bowler with Astley and Tyldesley Cricket Club and he also played with Leigh CC and for a spell was professional with the Michelin Athletic Club side in Stoke-on-Trent.
He also played wing-threequarter for Tyldesley Rugby Club.
He was an enthusiastic member of Tyldesley Amateur Dramatic Society and did his National Service with the Royal Air Force in Egypt.
His son Paul, who married last year and is employed in the property department at Cardiff County Council, said his father had been in good health up to the start of the New Year but a visit to the doctor's had revealed the onset of cancer.
He had received hospital treatment and had been readmitted before his death last Thursday in Cardiff University Hospital.
The funeral takes place today in Llandaff Cathedral.
Among the family mourners will be Harry and Hilda Crippin's daughter, Hilary who once seemed destined to be a vet. But she went off to a kibbutz in Israel, liked the way of life and chose to settle there.
She married an American Israeli in 1986 and now has seven children.
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