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Inspirational editor Terry Gilder dies at 77
A newspaper editor and history enthusiast who helped inspire a generation of Shropshire journalists has died aged 77.
Terry Gilder was the editor of the Newport Advertiser and Market Drayton Advertiser for 15 years before moving to work on a number of nostalgia magazines and books.
He started as a sub-editor on the Shropshire Journal, and then edited the North Shropshire Journal, South Shropshire Journal and Mid Wales Journal.
Terry’s wife, Pip, said: “He was a journalist through and through. He was a very popular man – upright, steadfast. He believed in what he believed in and he said what he thought. He didn’t suffer fools gladly.”
While he was making his mark as a journalist, Terry was also learning to love local history, especially the history of Hadley in Telford.
Pip said: “He was very fascinated in local history, inspired by my grandmother Eleanor Martin from Hadley.
“She used to talk about times gone by and what happened during the war.
“What people used to be like, families and villages, and particularly Hadley. I’m from Hadley but Terry was from Nottinghamshire.
“She painted a wonderful picture of Hadley, and because of what she discussed with him he published a small book called Hadley at War.”
Terry was involved in the Methodist Church in Hadley and he was a Methodist local preacher for more than 40 years.
He was also a member of the Hadley and District Orpheus Male Voice Choir.
Samantha Taylor, who worked with Terry, said: “Terry was my first editor when I joined the Newport Advertiser as a trainee reporter in 1988 and when I became editor myself in 1995 he was without doubt my role model.
“Terry was a passionate, inspirational and brilliant newspaper man.”
His funeral will be held at Hadley Methodist Church on July 24 at 12.30pm.
