TRIBUTES have been paid to a successful accountant and former Countdown finalist who died suddenly before Christmas.Mick Keeble, a father-of-one, from Stutton, near Ipswich, died on December 13 aged 57.

TRIBUTES have been paid to a successful accountant and former Countdown finalist who died suddenly before Christmas.

Mick Keeble, a father-of-one, from Stutton, near Ipswich, died on December 13 aged 57.

Mr Keeble, who was married to his wife Jill for more than 36 years, was born in Ipswich and was educated at Northgate Boys Grammar School.

He studied at university in Exeter and embarked on a career as an accountant, initially with Eastern Electricity and later with the Guardian Royal Exchange.

In 1973 he qualified as a chartered accountant and in 1985 he set up his own practice at home with his wife. Mr Keeble was a member of MENSA and loved quizzes.

He became a finalist in the popular television quiz show Countdown and last year won a cash prize in Brain Teaser on live TV.

Mr Keeble, who leaves a daughter called Lisa and was due to become a grandfather in the summer, had been a governor of Holbrook High School for four years and was treasurer of Stutton Primary School PTA and treasurer of Stutton Horticultural Society.

On behalf of the family, a friend of Mr Keeble said: “Mick will be sadly missed but more importantly he will be remembered as a remarkable man.

“Although each of us will have our own special memories Mick will, I believe, be best remembered as a family man, as a caring individual, as a hard-working professional and as a generous man who gave much of his time freely to causes and organisations that he believed in. Mick was a friend to many people.”

Donations in memory of Mr Keeble are being made to Stutton Primary School.