Michael Doyle RIP

- compiled from a report in the St Helens Star

Michael Doyle attended St Edwards College and went on to work at Plessey and English Electric. He later moved into training and was a staunch union member. Just a year after being elected to St Helens council he became Chair of Planning and later Economic Development and became Leader in 1997. He was the Mayor of St Helens in 1989 and deputy chair of the Regional Development Agency. It is a testament to Mike's dedication that one week after having part of his leg amputated he accepted the post of Executive Member for Environmental Protection and, equipped with lap top, threw himself into the job as he did in his later role of Executive Member for Safer Communities.
Mike was passionate about education and was chair of a number of governing bodies. He was a parish councillor and a patient adviser giving talks to diabetic people as well as mentoring people who have been through the trauma of amputations. Mike made his mark wherever he went. No issue was too small or too big. His name will live on. He may have been born in Liverpool but he was the adopted son of St Helens.
Mike was chair of governors at Rainhill High until his death, and hundreds of schoolchildren braved atrocious weather conditions as they lined the route to St Bartholemew's Church in Rainhill to say a last farewell after he died of a suspected heart attack shortly after Christmas 2008.
Our sincere condolences to his wife Julia and the rest of his family.
May he rest in peace
St Helens Councillor Suzanne Knight summed up Mike's life in lines attributed to Robert Louis Stephenson:
"That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much;
Who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of children;
Who has fulfilled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who leaves the world better than he found it, whether by a perfect poem or a rescued soul;
Who never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;
Who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had."