Shropshire Star newsman Dave dies at 64

Apart from general news reporting as chief reporter at the Shropshire Star's Shrewsbury office, Dave Sharp was also for years the health correspondent for the Shropshire Star.

He covered the issue at a time of great turbulence within the National Health Service locally, with a funding crisis, the controversial building of Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, and the closure of many cottage hospitals.

Dave was also to work on the Shropshire Star newsdesk, and was later the editor of the Telford Journal. He finished his career as a sub editor, retiring on May 31, 2011.

Among the major stories covered by Dave were the murder of Shrewsbury's Hilda Murrell in 1984 and the subsequent conspiracy theories surrounding her death, and the IRA bombing of Tern Hill in 1989.

He was the Star's international news taster at the time of the New York Twin Towers terror blitz of September 11, 2001, and was the first in the newsroom to raise an alert that something untoward was happening after spotting a one-line news snap on the Press Association wire.

Dave, from Apley, Telford, had not been ill and his death at home on July 9 from a heart attack was very unexpected. He leaves wife Kate and three daughters. The funeral is at Telford crematorium on July 29 at noon.

He started with the company on September 8, 1969. A hard news journalist to his core, he was renowned for his ability to take any story and in short order turn it round to find the best "angle", and write it to give it punch and impact.

Retired Star man Richard Ewels, who had started on the paper at the same time as Dave and worked together with him during the early part of their careers, said: "His forte was the big story. On any big story, Dave would be the person you wanted on it, turning his hand to it in almost record time, putting the story together, either reading from his immaculate shorthand in his notepad and phoning it over, or knocking it out on a typewriter in those days. He was in his element in that kind of situation.

"Dave was not keen on traditional sports such as football or cricket – Dave preferred more extreme sports. He took up horse riding, skiing, parachuting, motorcycling and, I believe, deep sea diving, and became accomplished in all.

"His death is shocking news and he will be missed by the many journalists who knew and worked with him."

Known as "Sharpy" to colleagues, he was popular with fellow journalists. Richard remembered persuading him to play in a football match when they were both doing a pre-entry journalism course at Harlow College in Essex.

"He injured his arm in the warm-up but nevertheless played the whole game, only finding out later that he had broken his arm. If I remember rightly it was his birthday as well."