Petty estate agent boss dies (83)

a BUSINESSMAN at the forefront of the local housing market has died aged 83.

Mr Alexander Forbes was the face of Petty estate agents for more than a quarter of a century, starting with the firm as a junior partner and later taking it over as his own.

Mr Forbes, of Martinfields, Reedley, retired from business 20 years ago and flew around the world on a five-month sightseeing holiday with his wife, Joyce.

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Born in Whitehaven of Scottish parents, Mr Forbes came to Burnley as a young boy with his family and was educated at Clitheroe Grammar School.

During the Second World War he served with the Royal Marines and was articled to the Burnley chartered surveyor Harold Thornton before going to work for the Inland Revenue,

He married in 1952 and two years later moved to Montreal, Canada, where two of the couple’s children were born. The family returned to Burnley in the 1960s, when Mr Forbes began his long association with Petty.

Away from work, Mr Forbes was a keen walker and sightseer. He also had an active social life, being a member of the 41 Club, as well as serving as the president of a local Rotary Club and the Caledonian Society.

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His funeral on Monday is at 10 a.m. at Briercliffe Road Baptist Church, followed by cremation at 11-20 a.m., at Burnley. Friends and family are to celebrate his life at the Fence Gate, Fence, at lunchtime. Mr Forbes leaves his wife and three children, Andrew, Brent and Alex.

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