A FORMER head teacher of Easingwold School, Roger Kirk, has died aged 69.

Mr Kirk, of Oulston, was head of the secondary school from the early 1980s until 1993, said his widow, Christine.

Earlier in his career, he had taught at Pocklington School and also been a senior lecturer at the former College of Ripon and York St John.

He had been a lay reader in the Church of England for more than 40 years, working in recent years in the Coxwold and Husthwaite area.

Until fairly recently, he had also been chairman of the management committee of the North Yorkshire Housing Advice Resource Project, based at Northallerton, and had been chairman of the Oulston Parish Meeting for a number of years until last year.

He had also served on the council of the University of York for about 20 years until the end of last year. She said the university had been planning to present an honorary doctorate to her husband later this year.

Arrangements for Mr Kirk's funeral have not yet been finalised.

Updated: 10:16 Friday, February 07, 2003