Jeffrey Vernon Clewley, 68, who was a stalwart member of the Broad Town community for more than 50 years, was a practical, self-reliant man who took pleasure and pride in working with others to get things done.

He was a loving husband, proud father and grandfather.

In Broad Town, he served on the village hall committee, the parish council, the flower show committee and the village school’s board of governors.

He was active and influential in all these roles and his legacy continues in the annual Broad Town Five, a five-mile road race which he co-founded with Robin Wain and others, in the 1980s, to raise funds for the school.

Mr Clewley designed a database to record the race results, at a time when computing was far less widespread than it is now. The Broad Town Five, run in conjunction with the school’s annual fete, remains popular with runners from a wide area.

Mr Clewley’s interests and skills encompassed plumbing, engineering, construction, agriculture, horticulture, apiculture and technology. He enjoyed making home videos.

Mr Clewley was in his teens when he moved from Oxford to Broad Town with his sister Wendy and their parents. Their father Eddie, a plumber and engineer, had bought a local business, and the family also had a smallholding.

Mr Clewley attended Ridgeway School in Wroughton and Swindon College where he gained qualifications in plumbing, building and general engineering.

He was a hard worker and was always keen to extend his knowledge and experience.

He was noted for his readiness to volunteer help whenever needed, and he fulfilled many roles in the village.

In his youth he enjoyed helping on his father-in-law’s farm and especially driving the combine harvester.

He and his father made a lot of implements from scratch, including a five-tonne tipping trailer which they fitted with former Mosquito aircraft wheels.

Mr Clewley loved gardening, and was noted especially for his dahlias and giant onions. For some years his produce was exhibited at local shows.

Mr Clewley and his wife Janet were married in 1970 and had three children, the late Samantha (born in 1972), son Ross in 1976 and daughter Hazel in 1979.

In a warm tribute at the funeral service, for which Christ Church, Broad Town, was packed, Ross recalled many amusing incidents from Mr Clewley’s life.

“Dad always did whatever he could to help us to follow our interests and passions,” he said. “Samantha loved Guiding; for me it was Scouts and riding my bike; for Hazel it was horses, which were kept at our grandparents’ smallholding.”

Mr Clewley enjoyed golf, which he played at Brinkworth and subsequently at Upavon, and gained further friends through his interest in the sport. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

The service , at which the Rev Richard Selby-Boothroyd officiated, was followed by interment in the churchyard.

Memorial donations for the Prospect Hospice may be sent to Maslin Funeral Service, 118a High Street, Royal Wootton Bassett SN4 7AU.