A FAMILY man who was a high ranking officer at Albany prison has died at the age of 88.
Maurice ‘Horace’ Kidger, affectionately known as Bamps, died on Wednesday December 15, surrounded by his wife, Mary, and four daughters.
Born in Leicester in 1932, Mr Kidger left school after the war at the age of 14, working as a bicycle delivery boy for Goodall’s Quality Stores.
At 18, he joined the forces as part of his National Service and served in Malaya from 1950 to 1952, boxing for the army and rising to the rank of Corporal — he would often maintain they were the best years of his life.
He met the love of his life and wife of 63 years, Mary Harvey, in late 1955.
Mr and Mrs Kidger had five children, daughters Susan, Dawn, Jane and Diane, and son Stephen.
A Co-op milkman for many years and prominent sportsman, Mr Kidger was a devotee of his beloved Leicester City Football Club.
He lived out one of his dreams in the early 1960s by playing on the club's hallowed turf at Filbert Street when he represented the Co-op against the police.
After a brief stint as a taxi driver he joined the prison service in 1969, rising to become a senior officer in record time.
In 1975 he was posted to Albany and became a principal officer.
Mr Kidger retired in 1989 and moved to Lake, where he could often be seen taking walks along the seafront with Mary and their dog, Holly.
He was the proud patriarch to 15 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren, and was besotted by every one of them, never missing a birthday or Christmas.
He was a family man in every sense of the word, relishing his role as top dog at all get-togethers and regaling his loved ones with legendary stories and wit.
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