A few weeks before my husband Earl died, he wondered, "What did I achieve? What was the point of my life?"

It was a momentary weakness - the "ebullient Earl Billheimer", as the Daily Express once called him, could be in no doubt as to his contribution to society in the USA and in England.

He stopped the war in Vietnam, advanced the cause of civil rights in the USA, prevented the Aire Valley motorway (for a while at least!), gave leadership and direction to the Labour Party in Bradford Moor, defended workers rights at Leeds Council and finally, his last hurrah, last year secured my election as a Labour Councillor in Eccleshill.

He didn't do any of this alone, of course, because Earl was a socialist and believed in the value of collective action. He was a leader in the trade union and labour movement, not on a national scale perhaps, but "The Chairman" touched the lives of many, many people in the communities of Bradford and Leeds.

He will be greatly missed. Ours was a political as well as a personal partnership: he was the wind beneath my wings, always supporting, encouraging and, frankly, demanding that I achieve more and greater things for the people I have represented in my public life.

We don't want flowers at his funeral, thank you, but a donation to the wonderful organisation that helped me to look after him in his last months and at the end made his death so easy and peaceful.

You can make a donation via this page or to the Lord Mayor of Bradford's Appeal, which is this year for our local Marie Curie hospice: The Lord Mayor's Appeal Office, City Hall, BRADFORD, BD1 1HY

Donating through this JustGiving page is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer.

Friends abroad may also find that JustGiving is the easiest way to donate in Earl's memory.