BROADCASTER and journalist John Stapleton, who was born in Oldham and grew up in Diggle, has died aged 79.
Mr Stapleton, whose career in television and newspapers spanned more than five decades, passed away on Sunday, September 21 following a period of illness.
His agent confirmed he had been living with Parkinson’s disease, with pneumonia cited as a complicating factor.
Educated at Diggle Primary School and Oldham’s Hulme Grammar, he began his working life in 1962 with Saddleworth Urban District Council before starting in journalism at the Oldham Evening Chronicle.
He went on to report and present for national programmes including Nationwide and Watchdog on the BBC and later became a familiar face on ITV’s morning television.
Despite his national profile, Mr Stapleton often acknowledged his local roots. In 2014 he returned to Delph to film a feature retracing his first summer job repairing roads, recalling how the experience shaped his early working life.
Saddleworth, once part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and now within Oldham’s metropolitan borough, has a long tradition of producing figures who go on to national prominence. Mr Stapleton’s career has been noted as part of that local story.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.
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