‘Dad was a great storyteller’: Ron Fairfax obituary

PROUD OF HIS WORKING-CLASS ROOTS: Ron Fairfax. Picture: Graeme Oxby

Popular Hull teacher and historian Ron Fairfax has died aged 86. He is remembered here by his daughter, journalist Sally Fairfax

Born into a council house in Sheffield in the same year the Second World War began, Dad was always proud of his working-class roots. He was equally proud of Hull, where he moved to as a mature student in 1970 and was always keen to promote its heritage.

Only recently, I heard how proud his own father was that Dad passed his 11+. Grandma Florence was apparently barely literate so to have someone who made it to grammar school and eventually to university was a big deal.

He talked a lot about all the jobs he had as a young man in Sheffield. Each of them had a story to go alongside it. In fact, everything had a story. Like the time he got sacked as a milkman for leaving his milk float on and running down the battery. And every time we had jelly babies he used to tell us he worked in a factory where they made them, or if we stopped at a road works he pointed out the fella whose job he had in the 60s.

He met Mum at an amateur dramatics group in Doncaster and they both moved to Hull in 1970 after he was accepted as a mature student at the university. Later, he worked at Hull College teaching film and communication studies and general studies.

MUCH-LOVED: Ron Fairfax with wife Janet

After taking early retirement he worked as a supply teacher in various Hull schools. Many ex-pupils would say he had an eccentric approach but most of them remembered him. In fact, in his latter years rarely would he go out and not meet someone he had taught.

Dad was fascinated with history and was a brilliant storyteller. Both skills led him to write and present several films about local history, including Trawler Towns, Hull at War and The Glasgow Story. Passionate about telling stories that were otherwise untold, he wrote Corky’s War – the transcribed and annotated diaries of Percy Cawkwell, a Hull man who was a stretcher-bearer during the First World War.

He was a strong believer in justice and as such, supported those who felt were underrepresented. During the power strikes of the 70s, while they were living in a terraced house off Beverley Road, Dad and Mum took soup to the striking workers.

When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, we had friends in our house from all over the world, including Chile, Syria, Kuwait and Sudan. Dad joined a Chilean band as a drummer and I have (probably exaggerated) memories of our house having a party every weekend. He became more formally involved in politics in the 90s when he became a Labour councillor for the Avenues ward.

Dad died suddenly at home on September 28, 2026, after a weekend of doing what he loved best – spending time telling stories and jokes with friends and family. He leaves his wife, Janet, two daughters and two grandsons.