Sadness over late councillor in line for Palace honour

A HIGHLY respected Yorkshire councillor who died last month was in line to receive the MBE in the New Year’s honours list, it has emerged.

The family of Joe Tetley, a former member of Morley Town Council, have now received confirmation that he had been nominated for the honour.

However, because the official list of nominees had not been formally approved by the Queen before he died, he will not be able to receive the honour posthumously.

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CounTetley’s widow, Maisie, was officially informed by the Cabinet Office that the MBE would have been offered to him.

She has since spoken of her family’s pride at the nomination, but also of her disappointment that the award cannot be given posthumously.

She said: “We are very proud but it is disappointing that it has come too late.

“The Queen had not approved it by the time of Joe’s death so the award cannot be made.”

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Coun Gareth Beevers, a member of Morley Town Council, said: “It’s a great shame the MBE cannot be given posthumously. There cannot be many more deserving cases.

“People said years ago Joe should have got such an award because of all the work he did for the community. He helped a lot of people in Morley and Churwell in many different ways.”

Mr Tetley served as an independent on the former Morley Borough Council from 1964 until 1974, when it was disbanded as part of local government reorganisation.

He was elected to Morley Town Council in 2003, initially serving as an independent member and since 2007 as a member of the Morley Borough Independents. He was awarded the honour of being the Mayor of Morley in 2003.

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A keen local historian, Mr Tetley served as the chairman of the Morley Community Archive Group.

He was also the chairman of the Churwell Action Group and led guided walks during which he recounted the history of Morley.

He was on the board of governors of Joseph Priestley College and, as chairman of the Leeds branch of the Royal Society of St George, was one of the driving forces behind Morley’s hugely successful St George’s Day parades.

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