COMMUNITY-spirited Philip Smyth has been awarded a medal for his outstanding service to the church in Marlow.
The Papal Bene Merente Medal was presented to him by Canon Antony Griffiths during a mass at St Peter's Church in Marlow, last month. Mr Smyth, 81, was a founder member of the St Vincent de Paul Society, set-up to help the poor and the hungry.
He said: "I got the shock of my life when the Canon told me. I was called out in the middle of the mass to collect the medal. It is a wonderful honour and totally out of the blue."
Mr Smyth, of Little Boltons, Marlow, is originally from Cork in Ireland.
He joined the navy in 1939, serving through World War Two until he retired with seven medals as a chief petty officer in 1961. He moved to the town in 1959.
Mr Smyth now helps out as a paperboy for the Cottage Hospital in Glade Road, Marlow, where he has been delivering papers and shopping for patients for the last 30 years.
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