RELATIVES of Ivan Howlett, the founding father of BBC Radio Suffolk, have paid their final respects at the 66-year-old's funeral.

Josh Warwick

RELATIVES of Ivan Howlett, the founding father of BBC Radio Suffolk, have paid their final respects at the 66-year-old's funeral.

Mr Howlett, who died earlier this month after a long struggle with cancer, was laid to rest following a private ceremony at Ipswich Crematorium yesterday.

The hugely popular broadcaster founded Radio Suffolk in 1990 and was managing editor for eight years until he left to pursue other projects within the BBC.

In 1998, Mr Howlett went back to hands-on programme making. He won a Spoken Word Gold Award for the Radio 4 series The Century Speaks and presented The Shanghai Sailors.

He also worked on BBC Radio 4's Making History and Home Planet shows as well as being a theatre critic for the Evening Star's sister paper, the East Anglian Daily Times.

Mr Howlett's family, wife Lindsey and children Adam, Oliver, Nancy and Tom, are planning a public memorial towards the end of September at Lavenham church.

Radio Suffolk's current managing editor, Peter Cook, said: “Ivan was always full of energy and passionate about radio.

“He was a very talented broadcaster who commanded enormous respect.

“He was a Suffolk boy through and through - born and bred in Lavenham - and he delighted in any opportunity to celebrate the county he loved.”

Sharon Jenkins, marketing and press officer at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich, added: “I loved him for his passion and his support for the New Wolsey but on a more personal note I enjoyed his company and always looked forward to seeing him and Lindsey on press nights.”