Former magistrate dies aged 88
A former magistrate and councillor from the Black Country has died following a long illness at the age of 88.
Arthur Walters sat on the bench at Stourbridge for 14 years, also serving as a ward member for Lye for almost a decade.
His son Ray, aged 64, paid tribute to "a brilliant man who would help anybody". He said the former Labour councillor was a "fair-minded" politician who was passionate about helping working people. "He was a true Labour man, not like they are today," Ray said.
Arthur Walters grew up with his three brothers and four sisters in Pedmore Road, Lye, and lived at the same house for much of his life. After finishing at Orchard Lane Primary School he got a job in the galvanising trade before moving to Longbridge as a sheet metal worker for Austin Cars at 17.
The father of one remained at Longbridge until he retired in 1982 to look after ill wife Sarah Walters, nee Shaw. The couple met in 1938 and married four years later.
Arthur spent the first five years of the war making munitions at Longbridge before joining the navy in 1944, seeing action in the Middle East and Australia. He was in Oz when Ray was born in 1945.
Arthur became a magistrate and councillor in the same year, 1956, and administered justice until 1970. He enjoyed nine years in the opposition Labour ranks before leaving office in 1965. His son said he was a hard worker. He said: "When he worked at Longbridge he would quite often be on nights. He would come home after a shift, have a bit of breakfast and then walk up to the court in New Road to sit on the bench for the morning." He would come back, get a few hours sleep and then have to be up for work again.
"He was a brilliant man, a wonderful man who would help anybody. In those days councillors didn't get money like they do today, they were all good men then."
From 1991, when he was made redundant, Ray cared for his mother and father at their home in Denton Road, Wollescote. His wife Sarah died in 2000, aged 75, after heart problems, while Mr Walters' dementia, diagnosed in 1991, caused his health to deteriorate.
His funeral will be held at Stourbridge Crematorium Chapel at 2.10pm on November 20. Donations can be made to the British Heart Foundation through H. Porter and Sons funeral directors, 60 South Road, Stourbridge, DY8 3UJ.
