Tribute paid to dedicated Newark social worker Ian Kirtley who committed to keeping families together for more than 30 years

A Newark social worker who spent more than three decades working to keep families together has died, aged 79.

Ian Kirtley spent much of his life helping those in the town — but hailed from much further afield.

He was born in Sint Maarten in the Caribbean, to parents who worked in the church and who he revered for the love they gave him and values they imparted on him. He spent much of his younger years exploring the landscape of the Caribbean islands and riding wild donkeys.

Then, the family moved to the north east of England, where he spent time exploring the coast and diving into tidal rock pools at Whitley Bay.

Ian was sent to boarding school at 11, where he and a fellow pupil got up to no good creating duplicate keys to staff areas in order to sneak out to visit the nearby pubs, leading to him being expelled.

This in turn sent him travelling to Paris, where he found work as a hospital orderly, and there met a patient who set the course of his life. She died in his arms after imparting stories of her involvement in the French resistance, which sparked in Ian an urge to protect the vulnerable.

Ian returned to England and began training as a Methodist Minister, before switching to social care, and it was on a social studies course in Coventry that he met his wife Jane.

They were married in 1969 and moved to Newark, living first on Middlegate, before moving to Farndon when they started a family.

The pair went on to have two children, Mark and Kathy, with who Ian shared the “magical side of childhood” — building trapezes, skateboarding ramps, football pitches, and pet pens in their garden, taking them on bike rides, up mountains, and never being angry.

Jane described him as a “proud dad” of his children, and then of his grandchildren Reuben and Maisie, always saying how lucky he was.

As a social worker, Ian was a “management headache” for his lack of paperwork — because he was instead always out and about working with children, teenagers, and parents in their homes.

He and Jane both worked upstairs in the Ossington, Ian as a child care officer and Jane as a family case worker. He was most passionate about keeping families together.

Upon his retirement at 59, he frequently cycled and walked in the Lake District, Peak District, Scotland, and the Pyrenees, primarily with his Newark friends.

He later turned his attention to supporting children in Gaza, who he felt had no voice, writing to MPs, the government, signing petitions, and joining marches for the cause.

Even when he was near the end of his life and could hardly stand, he wanted to continue to attend.

Ian leaves behind his wife Jane, children Mark and Kathy, and grandchildren Maisie and Reuben.