The family of Lord Andrew Phillips of Sudbury have described him as a "force of nature" after the announcement of his death aged 84.
The former member of the House of Lords and president of The Sudbury Society passed away on Easter Sunday.
Lord Phillips was a pioneering solicitor, a dedicated supporter of many charities and a much-loved legal expert and broadcaster, regularly appearing on Jimmy Young’s BBC Radio 2 show as the “Legal Eagle” for nearly 30 years.
The former Liberal Democrat politician was born in Long Melford and grew up in Sudbury.
He moved away to live in London for a short while before coming back to the market town.
Paying tribute to him, his daughter Caitlin Phillips described him as a "force of nature".
"He was incredibly energetic, sociable enthusiastic and fun-loving person," she said.
"He loved messing about and was always the person who did the play fighting with his five grandchildren.
"He was quite a big child at heart and he was a lot of fun.
"Very imaginative so if you went on walks with him he was forever finding interesting objects in fields.
"He was terribly well known and was honorary members of hundreds of societies we didn't even know about."
Lord Phillips' daughter Alice Stroud said he was very musical.
"He would always be wondering round the house singing and he used to play the spoons and clicked his fingers," she said.
"He just had such a fun and loving nature."
Lord Phillips' family said he would always use his free time to give out free advice for local organisations.
He also served as the chancellor of the University of Essex between 2003 and 2013.
Lord Phillips presided over 11 graduations, congratulating and celebrating the successes of more than 20,000 graduates.
In his later years, Lord Phillips was diagnosed with dementia and was getting even more eccentric, his daughters said.
"He didn't want it to let it stop him from charging around," Caitlin said.
Lord Phillips had a great love for Sudbury – he even weighed into the debate over the future of the historic Belle Vue house in the town.
"His energy since retiring has been massively focused on Sudbury," Caitlin added.
"Sudbury has been a great lover of his life and he also felt passionately about the campaign to save the Corn Exchange in 1970 which is now the library which was going to be knocked down to make way for Tesco."
Caitlin said her dad was quite a hoarder and they have sheds full of things, including old papers and agriultural items.
She said: "He was very looked after he didn't have to do much on the domestic front.
"Although he did learn how to use dishwasher in later life and then he wouldn't let anyone else stack it."
Alice said her dad had a real love for architecture and churches.
"He was obsessed with Suffolk churches," Mrs Stroud said.
"As children we spent so much time in churches looking at the roots of them."
Caitlin said he would regularly buy his grandchildren second hand guides to Suffolk churches as Christmas and birthday presents.
Lord Phillips passed away at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds on Sunday and his family would like to thank members of staff at the hospital for all their help and work while he was there.
"They were so good," Caitlin said.
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