A WELL-known Keighley vet, who practised in the town for more than three decades, has died after a long battle against illness.

Len Greaves had suffered from dementia for about six years.

He died aged 77 at Herncliffe Care Home in Keighley, where he had been a resident for three years.

Mr Greaves went into partnership with Mike Green in Devonshire Street in 1971, moving to purpose-built premises at Stockbridge 23 years later.

He retired in 2004.

"Len was happiest working with small animals, and many people will remember him in his surgery, peering at them over his half-moon glasses as he examined their pets," his widow, Joyce, said.

"Family was central to Len's life. One special event he always looked forward to was when everyone would go to the Turkey pub at Goose Eye on Christmas morning.

"Len loved cooking, and nothing pleased him more than to have the whole family around the table tucking into some of his homemade food."

Leicester-born Mr Greaves studied veterinary medicine at Glasgow University, where he met Joyce.

The couple married soon after he had qualified and went on to have four children – Carolyn, Claire, Andrew and Rosalind.

On moving to the Keighley area, Mr Greaves became actively involved in community activities.

He joined Keighley Round Table and Skipton & Craven Rotary Club and was a passionate Labour Party supporter, serving for a time as treasurer and membership secretary locally.

He also had a love of his wife's native Scotland, and was twice president of Keighley Caledonian Society, participating in activities including St Andrew's balls and Burns suppers.

And Mr Greaves was a former president of Keighley Show, the town's annual agricultural showpiece event.

"The show presidency was an honour he very much appreciated," said Mrs Greaves, a retired teacher.

"He was delighted on one occasion to be asked to judge the children's pet competition, but was somewhat daunted to be faced by two large pythons – even though their owners tried to assure him they had been fed."

Despite the progression of his dementia, Mr Greaves, a grandfather-of-11, continued to pursue another love – music.

He enjoyed volunteer-run Music for the Mind sessions in Skipton, led by the Cobbydale Singers.

Silsden has been the couple's home for the past 20 years, and a memorial service for Mr Greaves will be held at the town's Methodist Church at 12.30pm on Monday, February 22, following a private cremation.