The founder of a Suffolk funeral company has been recognised with a lifetime achievement award after over six decades of service.
Trevor Hunnaball, founder of Hunnaball, which has branches in Essex, Sudbury and Ipswich, has won at the National Association of Funeral Directors awards, after spending 65 years in the funeral industry.
Mr Hunnaball started working for W.H. Shephard when he was 15, going on to be managing director before opening his own business in 1983.
He said: "I never wanted to work in any other profession.
"I had got a job when I was 15 and was going to see a careers advisor, but I said I didn't need to see him because I had a job, and he said there was no career progression in the funeral industry.
"Well, I have now spent 65 years in the industry that I love.
"I was completely shocked and overwhelmed to win the award."
Mr Hunnaball is still involved with the company, at the age of 80, as is his family, who all play a part in the running of the company.
His wife, Melanie, said: "He's an incredibly modest and unassuming man, he's never sought any recognition for the job that he loves to do.
"The family and his work colleagues are incredibly proud of him, and he is a real inspiration to us all.
"I don't think he has any idea how much impact he has had on so many bereaved families over the years and the industry in general."
There has been a lot of change in the funeral industry compared to when Mr Hunnaball started in 1957.
He has been at the forefront of the advancement of more women working as funeral professionals, the birth and rise of green burials and the breaking of taboos around talking about death
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