A WELL known and respected former Royal Grammar School headteacher has died after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

Rowland Brown OBE, JP died at home on Wednesday, aged 77, and tributes have been flooding in from past colleagues and friends.

President of the Rotary Club of High Wycombe Rod Barber said Mr Brown was a respected member of the club who was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship in June, which is the greatest accolade the Rotary can give.

It was presented to him by his son-in-law Rob Wallbank, who was president of the club last year.

Mr Barber said: “It is awarded to people who go above and beyond the call of duty. Rowland was a regular and active member of the club until very recently when illness made him unable to attend.”

He said Mr Brown was delighted with the prestigious award and nobody knew at that time just how ill he was.

He added: “It is a great loss to the club.”

Mr Brown was headmaster at RGS between 1975 and 1993 and served as a JP in the area for many years.

Rotarian and former boss of Ercol Tom Dean said he was “greatly saddened” by the news and paid homage to Mr Brown.

He said: “He was such a lovely and friendly man, he was always interested in what was going on in your life and he always asked after my family.

“I'm very, very sad. One memory that sticks out in my mind was a during a rotary trip to Paris.

“We were all there trying to do our bit of French as we ordered food etc but Rowland kept very quiet but then we asked him to chip in and he spoke very good French, and that was the sort of person he was, very understated.”

He was an active member of the Union Baptist Church in Eastern Street, High Wycombe.

His funeral is being held on Friday, October 1 at 1pm at the Chilterns Crematorium, followed by a memorial service at 2.30pm at the Union Baptist Church in Eastern Street. For more details call Arnold Funeral Service on 01494472572.