Tributes have been paid to the “gentle, wise and delightful” former Bishop of Dunwich, who has died aged 67 after failing to recover from major surgery.

The Right Reverend Clive Young, who served in Suffolk for 14 years, died on Wednesday.

As the Bishop of Dunwich, a title which dates from the 7th Century, he was the second most senior Anglican clergyman in the county before retiring two years ago.

He devoted more than four decades of service to the Church of England and had retired to Herefordshire with his wife Sue.

The Rt Rev Martin Seeley, Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, said: “Although I have only recently arrived in Suffolk I have known Clive since 1996 when I became vicar of the Isle of Dogs and he was on the appointment panel as Archdeacon of Hackney. From then on I experienced his deep wisdom and care for which he is so widely known in Suffolk.

“His support became very personal when he helped Jutta and I in our plans to be married. I feel great sadness for Clive’s wife Sue too, that he has died so soon after his retirement.”

Bishop Clive went to school at King Edward VI Grammar, Chelmsford, and then St John’s College, Durham.

He was ordained as a deacon in 1972 and served in London as rural dean of Tower Hamlets, vicar of St Andrew in Holborn and archdeacon of Hackney before coming to Suffolk in 1999.

After his retirement service on May 12, 2013, he said he hoped to continue to be of service to the Church of England.

The Rt Rev Nigel Stock, a former bishop of the diocese and now bishop at Lambeth where he works closely with the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: “It was with immense sadness that I heard of the death of my gentle, wise and delightful colleague of six years. The loss to us all of Clive’s gifts of music, literary depth and sense of history is very great. These were the things that produced inspirational quiet days and retreats.

“Of course our prayers and heartfelt sympathy go out to Sue, who with Clive was so kind and hospitable to several generations of ordinands and readers in training and many others. I am sure that Clive is now bound up with the risen Lord Jesus whom he served so faithfully.”

The Rt Rev Richard Lewis, a former Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, said: “Clive was the best colleague anyone could wish for and more than that, a very good friend. He will be hugely missed in Suffolk.”

Martin Phillips-Last, priest in charge of Leiston, said: “I will always smile with gratitude for the fathering way in which Bishop Clive inspired belief in myself and will always be thankful for his strong yet gentle encouragement on my own journey to ordination.”