OBIT: Pontefract Civic Society joint founder Allan Blaza passes away aged 99

Allan was born in Selby on May 22, 1925. His father was a hospital administrator and his mother was a matron at the same hospital.

When Allan was seven, the family moved to Pontefract where his parents ran Northgate Lodge, originally built as a 19th century workhouse and which then became The Headlands Hospital.

Allan attended Normanton Grammar School - where he would later become the Chair of Governors - and was head boy and captain of cricket there.

In 1943 he went to University College in the University of Oxford to study modern history.

He learnt to fly as a member of the Oxford University Air Squadron and towards the end of the war was posted to Vancouver in Canada to train on Liberator bombers with the Royal Canadian Air Force. The war ended before he saw active service, and he resumed his studies at Oxford.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Allan became a hospital administrator, firstly in Oxford at the Radcliffe Infirmary, and then at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

Allan met his wife Shirley (nee Foster), a radiographer in Leeds, at a dance in Wakefield. They married at Horbury Parish Church in 1950 and enjoyed 61 years of happy marriage. Allan and Shirley had their first child, Hugh, in 1953, followed by daughter Jane in 1955.

Allan left hospital administration and joined the building society world. Moving back to Pontefract to work in Leeds, he moved back to Oxford to open the Society’s first office there.

Allan’s work brought the family at various points to live in Cambridge, Pontefract, Abingdon and Bristol. Eventually settling in Pontefract, Allan became an estate agent, working first for his brother Anthony and with Bob Abson, to whose practice Allan added his surname. Abson Blaza remains active today and is run by Bob’s son, Stephen.

It was through his professional work that Allan developed an interest in the local community, to which he devoted much of his spare time, having been a joint founder of the Pontefract Civic Society. He was determined to improve the appearance of the local built environment.

Amongst his many achievements in that regard, he was to encourage the participation of owners of buildings in the town by instigating the annual ‘Façade of the Year’ award.

Allan was a keen classical music enthusiast, particularly fond of the music of Schubert and Beethoven.

He also enjoyed 1940s jazz music. He would often attend music concerts, including those in which his wife Shirley performed as a member of the Pontefract Choral Society and the Priory Singers, a small chamber choir. An aspiring music critic, Allan would also write concert reviews for the Pontefract and Castleford Express.

Allan was a member of Round Table and latterly of Probus club, and he and Shirley enjoyed their meetings and many trips around the country on their coach tours. On Monday afternoons they would also enjoy kurling matches in Pontefract, and Allan continued to pursue his enthusiasm for the sport until his final illness.

A great Times crossword puzzle solver, Allan also used to do the Yorkshire Post’s ‘Prize’ crossword at the weekend, which he won several times.

Allan’s son, Hugh, said: “He thought the Post stopped doing it because he kept winning the prize.”

Speaking about his father, Hugh added: “He was an enthusiast, he loved his family, and enjoyed spending time with us and enquiring what we were all up to.

“But he loved people across the board and he loved talking; he was a great storyteller, conversationalist and a great enthusiast for projects of all kinds.

“He was often late for his meals or going on holiday because he would meet somebody and start talking to them.

“Through his work and other activities, Allan knew very many people in and around the town; one of his acquaintances in Pontefract, in response to a Facebook post announcing he had passed away, called him ‘Mr Pontefract’. Allan would have been very proud of that.”

Allan leaves son Hugh, daughter Jane, five grandchildren – Amy, Eleanor, and Hugo, Chloë and Nicholas and four great grandchildren, Phineas, Sephina, Amalie and Cecilie.

For those who would like to pay their respects to Mr Blaza, the funeral will take place August 8 at St Giles’ Church, Pontefract at 2pm.