By Jeremy Sollars
St Mary’s Catholic Church in Warwick was packed last Friday 27 July for the funeral of former Warwick and Glengallan Shire councillor and local identity Len Willett.
Mr Willett passed away after a lengthy battle with illness and had lived for the last several years at The Oaks at Warwick Hospital.
Described as a man of great humility, Len had requested of his family that no eulogy be given at his funeral, with his life celebrated with a Requiem Mass.
Agriculture was the main focus of his working life, but he was also heavily involved in community affairs, not just as a shire councillor but also with groups including Akooramak Home for the Aged, St Mary’s Catholic Parish and Co-operation in Development or CO-ID, an overseas aid agency which builds schools in Bangladesh.
CO-ID was founded by the late Fred Hyde OAM of Warwick, who died in late 2016 at the age of 96.
CO-ID chair Dr Olav Muurlink said Len Willett had his “civic duty hat on right until the end”, with the CO-ID board holding its meetings at The Oaks in recent times so Len could “continue to attend to his duty as a committee member”.
