A former Royal Norfolk Show head steward Benny Gaze, who has died aged 87, was also a director of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association.
Benjamin Alan Cubitt Gaze, of the long-established family firm of auctioneers and estate agents T W Gaze, started his show career shortly before coming of age and his 21st birthday. He stewarded in the pig and sheep classes for six decades, standing down as head steward in 2004.
At the 1955 show, only the second to be staged at the Norfolk showground, he was a stewards’ assistant. He was an assistant steward in the pig section for the Landrace breed from 1960 and was promoted to steward in 1968. He became assistant head steward in the sheep section in 1991 and the following year, became head steward of the sheep and pig sections. Mr Gaze, of Grove Farm, Roydon, was appointed a (trustee) director of the RNAA in January 1994 and served until January 2002. He was elected an honorary vice-president in 2005.
A funeral will be held on Saturday, June 25 at St Mary’s Church, Diss, at 2pm.
