The proud family of former Lismore City Council bridge builder Lenny Perren gathered in South Lismore today for the official unveiling of a bridge in his name.

The bridge had been opened for some time; however, it had remained unnamed until today.

Lenny built bridges in the Lismore LGA for over 20 years, working on concrete and his favourite wooden bridges. There are not many bridges in Lismore that Lenny would not have worked on. His last major bridge was Myatt Bridge on Repentance Creek Road on the Byron Shire boundary.

Lenny passed away in 2014 from Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He and Julie were married for 25 years, and had three children, Lachlan, Nathan and Megan, who were all part of the unveiling. Nathan flew in from Hobart last night.

(The ribbon is cut on the naming of the Lenny Perren Bridge on Wilson Street, South Lismore by the Perren family; Nathan, Lachlan, Julie and Megan as Mayor Steve Krieg watches on)

Julie told the media today that Lenny started as a carpenter and ended as Bridge Forman. He was not just a Lismore City Council employee; he was a real community man.

"He was a connector in the community. Loved, loved helping people during floods. He worked really closely with the SES, with the shutting of the walls and things to keep Lismore safe. I can remember one Christmas he actually left on Christmas Day because there were water floodgates to be shut. So, my mum packed him off with prawns and some pudding, and he actually slept in the bridge depot that night just to make sure that the floodgates were kept shut, and everyone was safe. That was just who he was.

"He was a great husband, a great dad, and a salt of the earth kind of bloke."

Mayor of Lismore Steve Krieg said that Lenny is just one of those great unsung heroes of our community. "It's so good to actually recognise someone of his stature. We all think of the Craig Fosters and the Adam Gilchrist's that have come from Lismore, but the name Lenny Perren sits very comfortably among those names as well for the work that he did for so long and at such high quality for our council area."

Julie said it was a special day for the Perren family that was filled with mixed emotions.

"I think we're all really proud that there's going to be this beautiful bridge called the Lenny Perren Bridge, and if he was here today, he would be proud and both humble. Because he was a bridge builder, I think that's what makes it so special.

"To have the generations of parents drive over the bridge and know that that was their pop and what he did. We all know what he'd did, but it's nice to see the community acknowledge it."