Pembroke Dock has lost one of its oldest and best known and respected residents with the death on Sunday January 5 of Mr Frank Harries, of Imble Lane.

Countless friends and acquaintances throughout his home area and from much further afield learned with great regret of his death. Aged 95, Frank passed away at Apley Lodge where he had been in respite care for three weeks.

A ‘Dock Boy’, Frank was born in Llanion but spent his formative years in Gibraltar where his father was twice stationed with the Army. Frank’s mother was originally from Malta and he retained a strong family connection with Gibraltar all his life. He spoke fluent Spanish.

Frank did National Service in the Army and locally worked first for the Admiralty in the old Dockyard and then at the Davies Steel factory before joining the Prudential Insurance Company. He was ‘the man from the Pru’ for over 30 years.

A lifelong member of St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Pembroke Dock, Frank began his involvement in fundraising for charitable causes by staging variety shows in the church schoolroom, helped by his brothers.

For close on 20 years, assisted by his wife Tess, Frank wrote and produced an annual variety show, raising £65,000 for local and national charities. And as a Rotarian he took on arranging Rotary’s Cardiff Philharmonic concerts, events which raised some £70,000.

For many years he was chairman of the Friends of South Pembrokeshire Hospital which raised considerable funds under his stewardship.

Older residents will remember him as the bingo caller twice weekly at the old Albion Hall, raising funds for church and cricket club. Frank was also involved with Round Table and was a former President of Probus and a life member of Pembroke Dock Cricket Club. He took a great interest in the history of Pembroke and Pembroke Dock and was President of Pembroke Historical Society.

In recognition of his charitable work and raising an estimated £200,000 for charity, Frank was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2014.

Frank was the senior member of the Pembroke and District Male Voice Choir and its longest serving chorister. He joined the choir in 1954, less than two years after it was formed, and gave a lifetime of service to choral singing. He was Choir Chairman for several years. He was ever present at practices and concerts – an example to all by his commitment to the choir – and his still fine tenor voice belied his 95 years.

For many years he was tenor soloist, staging with the late Owen Jones and Gordon Davies. His time with the choir included multiple Welsh Association concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, and trips to Germany, Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Frank was predeceased by his wife Tess in 1998. Deepest sympathies are extended to son Martin, daughter-in-law Christine, granddaughters Fiona and Michelle and six great-grandchildren.

The funeral is being arranged by John Roberts and Son, Bush Street, Pembroke Dock.