ACCLAIMED York architect Ron Sims has died, aged 80.

Born in Hull in 1926, Ron moved to York with his parents, Claude and Jenny Sims, who ran the Tea Time Shop, in Heworth.

He went to Tang Hall Junior School and then Nunthorpe Grammar School. He met his future wife, Margaret Powell, when his school and Queen Anne's shared a building. They married after the Second World War, in 1947.

From Nunthorpe, he went to Leeds School of Art, now the University of Leeds, to study architecture, but his studies were broken by National Service.

Ron served as an officer in the Royal Engineers and, even while in the army, his love of architecture shone through and he took charge of a military building project in Kiel, Germany.

In 1952 he qualified as an architect as the best student in his year and entered the practice of George Pace - an eminent ecclesiastical architect - at St William's College.

Ron went on to become Mr Pace's associate and then his partner and took over the practice when he died.

He ran the firm for 32 years and was still working up until his death, on November 1.

In his time as an architect, he worked on 13 cathedrals and more than 1,000 churches.

Among some of his more notable contracts was work undertaken for the Queen in the 1970s on St George's Chapel, in Windsor. He also carried out restoration work on cathedrals in Chester, Durham, Llandaf and Newcastle.

In 1999, Ron, who lived in Haxby, was awarded an honorary MLit degree from Cambridge University by the Archbishop of Canterbury for his outstanding contribution to church building .

Although he worked in the shadow of York Minster, his son, John, said he never worked on the building, although he worked on most of the city's other churches.

He also designed the David Longhurst stand at York City Football Club.

Ron served on the York Civic Trust for many years, was a founder member of York Ebor Round Table, the founding chairman of the York 41 Club and an active member of York Rotary until he died.

As part of his Round Table activities in the late 1960s, Ron was part of the team who established Chapelfields adventure playground and served on its management committee until City of York Council took it over in 1973.

He leaves three sons, John, Alan and Mark, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His wife, Margaret, died nine years ago.

His funeral will take place on Tuesday at St Mary's Church, in Haxby, at 11am.