ONE of Thanet’s best known independent traders, Ron Davis, has died at the Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, two months after being diagnosed with leukaemia. He was 71. Mr Davis, a shoe repairer, was chairman of Northdown Road Traders' Association.

He was “Margate through and through," said his son, Michael, who added: "My father loved the town and its people and over the years was involved in so much that happened in the area. He was determined to see the regeneration of Thanet and he really believed that it had turned the corner and was progressing towards a better and brighter future.

“We often said that he would have Margate through his centre, like a stick of the town’s famous seaside rock.”

Mr Davis will be remembered by many as a band leader and drummer, playing for generations of dancers across the area at venues like the Orchid Ballroom and the Lido.

More recently he was the pit drummer for local shows and was playing regularly for shows at the Theatre Royal, Margate, until he was taken ill.

A ‘Bevin Boy’ after the war, he worked at Chislet before starting Davis Shoe Repairs in 1957 at Alexandra Road, Margate, moving the business to its current location in Northdown Road in the late 1980s.

Mr Davis also leaves a widow, Joyce, daughter Marion, daughter and son-in-law Jean and Barry, and grand-daughter Rachael. The family says that Davis Shoe Repairs will continue to trade. The funeral takes place at Thanet Crematorium, Margate, at 10am on Wednesday (December 19).