TRIBUTES have been paid to popular vet who was known for his generosity and his role in the community.Kenneth Cabban,88, who died on May 8, served the rural and farming community around Framlingham for 30 years until his retirement in 1982.

TRIBUTES have been paid to popular vet who was known for his generosity and his role in the community.

Kenneth Cabban,88, who died on May 8, served the rural and farming community around Framlingham for 30 years until his retirement in 1982.

He joined vet Hugh Clay, who was starting up a practice in 1952, and they formed Clay and Cabban, which had a surgery in Framlingham as well as in Earl Soham, where Mr Cabban settled with his family.

Born in Lewisham, he was the younger son of a printer and attended veterinary college in London. Before the war, he served as an assistant vet in Devon for a couple of years before he was called up.

He married Penny, his wife of nearly 50 years, in 1941.

They had been married just a week when he was sent off to serve abroad. He ended up in Palestine and Italy and rose to the rank of major in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.

After the war, they went to live in Diss, where he took up a post with a local practice. A few years later, they moved to the Framlingham area. The couple had two children, Charles and Mary-Anne.

Mr Cabban took an active part in community life in Earl Soham, and was a senior church warden and a parish councillor. He enjoyed shooting, fishing, and was an avid reader of historical novels.

His wife, Penny, died in 1989 and in 1991, he married again. He and his new wife, Joan, moved to Burgh, near Grundisburgh.

His son, Charles, paid tribute to his father, who was known for his absent-mindedness – and his generosity.

He said he was too kind to be hard-headed about the veterinary business.

"If he didn't think they could pay, he wouldn't charge them," he said. "He just helped everybody."

He added: "He was not the most brilliant driver. All his cars were rounded at each corner."

His daughter, Mary-Anne, described him as incredibly generous, fun-loving and charming.

"He was very well known for his bad memory. When they put double yellow lines in Framlingham, they were not there for him," she recalled.

He was also a great nature-lover, and enjoyed history and reading, she said.

Vet Alastair Douglas, who joined Clay and Cabban in 1968, as a partner, said he was a well-respected vet, who knew a great deal about large animals, and particularly treating lameness in horses.

He was a vet at the Suffolk Show, and was very well known throughout the area, he said.

"He was good to have as a senior partner, and very honest and forthright and generous with his knowledge," he said.

The funeral of Mr Cabban, who was a grandfather of four and a great grandfather of three, takes place at St Mary's Church, Grundisburgh on Saturday, May 22 at 12.30pm.