The South Wales Evening Post is mourning the death of a former editor who was at the helm for 14 years before he retired due to ill health in 1987.

Iorweth Lewis, better known as Iori, died at the age of 76.

Iori was born in and educated in Maesteg before he joined the Glamorgan Gazette as a junior reporter. He later joined the Royal National Eisteddfod as public secretary in 1948.

In 1949 Iori joined the Army for his National Service. He became press officer at Catterick before later editing an Army newspaper. Once National Service was over he rejoined the Glamorgan series before becoming features editor and sub-editor at Swansea Press Limited.

He was appointed acting editor in 1960. In 1971 Iori was appointed assistant editor of the Post before becoming editor two years later.

During his career he was president of the South Wales Region of the Guild of British Newspaper Editors. He also represented his region as a member on the Wales Chester Crown Courts Advisory Committee.

Current editor of the Evening Post, Spencer Feeney, said: "If it was not for Iori, I doubt if I would be the editor of the Evening Post today. I was working for the Birmingham Evening Mail in the late ‘70s when Iori invited me to return to the newspaper where I had trained as a school leaver.

"He always supported his staff, and backed them when someone in authority tried to stop the newspaper reporting something they would prefer to go unreported. Iori was a good editor of the old school who laid down a lot of ground work for those who followed him into the editor’s chair."

Ex-colleague Jill Forwood said: "He was a very popular editor who trusted his staff to do their job and in return he got their loyalty."