Family issues tributes after Jamaican Leeds World War Two veteran dies aged 97

Lionel Roper has been a central member of the Jamaican and Adventist church communities in Leeds for the past 60 years he's lived in the city.

His family have said they are 'thankful for the love and support they have received', following his death on Tuesday morning.

His daughter Jean said: “I think he would be absolutely amazed at what’s happening and the outpouring of messages we’ve had.”

Born in Jamaica in 1923, Lionel arrived in Hunmanby Moor, North Yorkshire, in November 1944.

He was part of the second batch of West Indian volunteer recruits.

Lionel has recounted to his family that he spent his 21st birthday aboard a troop ship surrounded by enemy submarines.

After starting a family, Lionel moved to England from Jamaica 1957, living first in Birmingham, then in Sheffield where his wife Doris came to join him.

Here they had seven children, and their two eldest sons came to join them from Jamaica in 1961.

The family of 11 then moved to Leeds in 1964.

Lionel was very keen on education and sent all his children to music lessons.

His daughter Jean said: “He was a very quiet man, but he was a very driven man.

“He understood that you had to make sacrifices and work very hard to get where you want to be.”

The family lived on Brudenell Road in Hyde Park, near a number of other families from the West Indies.

The families created a community which supported each other, bringing in the Jamaican Pardner system to help each other out financially.

Lionel was also a Christian man and was part of the Adventist church.

While his family are devastated by his death, Jean says they want to celebrate his 'amazing 97 years of life' and that they 'thank God for that because he lived to see his great grandchildren'.

She said: “He was a very family orientated man and he loved to spend time the grand kids and the great grandchildren.”