Friends asked to plant sunflowers in memory of former Newark In Bloom chairman following his death

Friends are being asked to plant sunflowers in memory of the former chairman of Newark In Bloom following his death.

George Wilkinson, of Newark, died last week, aged 82, four months after suffering a major stroke.

His wife, Gillie, said they had been planning to plant sunflowers in their garden this year, and thought it would be a fitting tribute.

George was born in Bleach House, Winthorpe, but moved to Lincoln Road, Newark, aged three after the house suffered two near misses from wartime bombers so close was its proximity to RAF Winthorpe.

He attended Lovers’ Lane and Magnus schools in Newark before serving for four years in the RAF, mainly in Germany and Northern Ireland, learning his trade in electronics.

He worked for a year as a salesman at Alexander Men’s Outfitters in Newark and then joined the REME, where he rose through the ranks to training officer in maths, electronics and engineering.

However, his first love was always gardening and he left that role to concentrate full-time on his flourishing nursery business.

Gillie said: “He started gardening when he was eight with a plot of land on the family smallholding.

“His father asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said he wanted a garden. He went to Woolworths and bought three 6d packets of seeds, sowed them and sold them as pulled seedlings, making a 900% profit ­— which he never repeated.”

At one stage, they were growing two million plants a year.

He supplied hanging baskets for the town’s businesses and invented a silent pump for watering them, which he was asked to demonstrate across the country.

George was chairman of Newark In Bloom for ten years, with Gillie as secretary, taking the organisation from its launch to gold standard two years running before stepping down.

His other passion was local history and heritage.

He took a three-year course in local history run through Nottingham University at Newark Library.

He was a member of Newark Civic Trust for 15 years, including serving around ten years as chairman.

With Bill Davidson, he co-authored eight town trail leaflets, which are about to be updated and re-released.

He was also commissioned to write a book, Newark and Sherwood, which featured illustrations by artist Penny Veys.

George was a member of Newark Archaeological and Local History Society, Newark Heritage Barge, and was a silver badge town tour guide.

He had been married to Gillie for more than 40 years.

He also leaves an adopted son and daughter, a stepson, three grandsons and two great-grandchildren.