Former foreign secretary William Hague leads tributes to his fearless father

Nigel Hague, who devoted his working life to his family’s Parkgate soft drinks business, known locally as Hague’s Pop, died aged 90 last Monday.

Mr Hague had recently moved to North Yorkshire to be with his family and was diagnosed with liver cancer just a few weeks ago.

The daredevil OAP, who lived in the village of Harley, raised an estimated £250,000 for charity with celebrated stunts including a skydive at age 83 and a biplane wing-walk four years later.

Ex-politician Lord Hague (below), the youngest of Mr Hague’s four children, described his dad as “a real character”.

He added: “He had a great sense of humour, loads of stories and people enjoyed his company.

“My dad was interested in politics and had strong views which were hard to characterise.

“He and my mother as parents wanted to provide a stable loving home for us but would never push or pressurise us to do anything. He was always proud and supportive.

“He was active right up to the end and a model for all of us in old age.”

Mr Hague raised £51,000 for the NSPCC in 2009 with a sponsored climb of 3,209ft Scafell Pike in the Lake District and collected £52,000 for the children’s charity skydive  in 2011.

In 2014, he braved a wing-walk over the English Channel to pay tribute to the efforts of D-Day soldiers — this time in aid of Rotherham dementia charity Lost Chord.

Mr Hague was immortalised on canvas in 2015 by painter and photographer Ryan Braidley, who also lives in Harley.

Recalling how the sitting came about, Ryan said: “I approached him and asked if he would be willing to allow me to create a portrait of him in his flying gear to celebrate his achievements. 

“Thankfully, he was very keen and agreed to join me on a sitting, where we chatted for a couple of hours — a true eccentric English gent. 

“His thirst for life and positive outlook was inspirational to listen to.”

The resulting painting was one of only 55 selected to be exhibited out of 2,500 first round entries in the National Portrait Gallery’s prestigious annual BP Portrait award in 2015.

A larger-than-life print of the painting can be seen in Rotherham’s Howard Street as part of the ongoing Gallery Town open-air art exhibition.

Ryan described Mr Hague as “an interesting character” who has always been humble about his fund-raising achievements.

Mr Hague was born in Greasbrough and lived there most of his life, later moving to Wentworth and Harley.

He served in the Army in Germany before working for and later running Charles Hague and Sons, which he sold on his retirement in 1990.

He had a stake in several Rotherham pubs, including the Rockingham Arms in Wentworth, known as the Rock.

A father to three girls and one boy with his wife Stella - who died ten years ago, he had five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

“We had all the children and grandchildren together for a 90th birthday celebration in July,” said Lord Hague.

Mr Hague’s funeral will be held at Wentworth’s Holy Trinity Church at 12.30pm next Friday (28).

Lord Hague said everyone was welcome to attend and donations would be welcomed for Cancer Relief Yorkshire and church funds.