My father-in-law Keith Innis, who has died aged 86, was a much respected and prominent Worcester journalist, whose mild and affable manner hid a core of steel.
The son of Alfred Innis, a lab technician, and his wife, Eunice (nee Roberts), Keith grew up in Worcester, and attended the city’s Royal Grammar school, after which he was called up for national service. On demob in the 1950s, he joined the editorial staff at Berrow’s Newspapers, rising through the ranks from junior reporter to the subs desk and eventually taking on the role of assistant editor. A quiet and modest man, Keith turned down the opportunity to take over the editorship of the Worcester Evening News, from which he retired in the mid-1990s.
It was after I had known Keith for a number of years as a very placid and gentle individual that my perception of him changed for ever, when I had a chance meeting in the 80s with a stranger from Leicestershire, who was visiting a canoeing event on the Worcester section of the River Severn. He asked quite by chance if I knew of a Keith Innis – his ex-army buddy.
The man then went on to describe the pussycat that was my father-in-law as “hard as nails” and that in his role as a military policeman in Gibraltar, Keith was the menace that they sent in first when there was a ruck of squaddie trouble to be dealt with. I was pretty wary of Keith from that moment on.
It was perhaps this hidden strength and determination that led Keith, a keen sportsman, to become an outstanding local rugby and tennis player, as well as accumulating local and army awards in athletics. In his later years, he became a keen golfer and stuck with it, despite certain grandchildren describing his style mockingly as “playing like a rabbit”.
One of Keith’s most memorable golf rounds is family legend. He was playing with another senior golfer, and they had decided to employ a motorised golf cart. Having finished a hole, Keith’s golfing partner was sitting in the passenger seat, while Keith struggled to put his golf bag on the cart. Unfortunately, the bag hit the accelerator and it sent his buddy and the cart careering over the horizon, with Keith in hot pursuit. This was typical Keith – measuredly accident prone.
Once, while demonstrating his prowess with practice golf balls to my son in his back garden, Keith picked up a full-fat golf ball by mistake, smashing two fence panels in the process, beautiful shot though it was.
Keith is survived by his second wife, Sue (nee Chambers), whom he married in 1976, his sons, Craig and Andrew, two stepchildren, Robin and Sally, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Keith’s daughter, Sally, predeceased him.