Tributes have been paid to the former general manager of the Dorset Echo.

Brian David Makepeace passed away peacefully at Dorset County Hospital on Christmas Day aged 80 after battling a number of illnesses.

His son David Makepeace, former head of advertising at the Dorset Echo, has paid tribute to the man he called ‘his hero.’

Mr Makepeace was born in Windsor on June 23, 1938 and lived in Lancing, West Sussex before moving to Southampton to pursue a career in the local newspaper industry.

His career started at the Southern Evening Echo, where he worked as a graphic designer and layout artist in the advertisement department in 1961.

The next few years saw him working in different roles before he was promoted to assistant advertisement manager in 1973.

Mr Makepeace was then promoted to advertisement manager of the Evening Echo in Bournemouth, where he worked from 1976 to 1980. At the time he was living in Ringwood with his family.

He left the Evening Echo for a new job as manager of the Dorset Echo in 1980 and was quickly promoted to general manager two years later.

When retiring in 1996, Mr Makepeace was the associate director of Southern Newspapers Western Region, overseeing operations of the Dorset Echo, the Bournemouth Echo and the Southampton Daily Echo.

His son David says his dad was ‘well respected’. His mum Pat has been inundated with letters from friends and former colleagues, paying their respects.

He said: “Whatever he did he did with a passion. He would put everything into it. “There were a lot of people who looked up to him.”

He said his dad’s passion was his work and sport. He was public announcer at Southampton Football Club when they won the FA Cup in 1976. While working at the Echo in Bournemouth, he continued as a public announcer at AFC Bournemouth. And after moving to work at the Dorset Echo, he became a regular supporter of Weymouth FC and was a season ticket holder for many years.

David Makepeace said: “We used to go all over the place to watch football, he got me to to follow AFC Bournemouth, who have been my team ever since.

“We used to always go and watch Weymouth Football Club, who became my second team. I used to love watching Weymouth with him. A lot of people knew him at the club and the flag was flown at half-mast for the Tiverton game in his memory.”

He added: “He was my hero. It’s been an honour and a privilege being his son. He was a great person – if you wanted a friend, he would be a friend. He had an interest in people and told me the art to a good conversation is being able to listen and ask questions.”

Mr Makepeace was a ‘devoted husband’ and was married to his wife Pat for 60 years. He was a father to David and Gary and a grandfather of seven and great grandfather of one.

The funeral will take place at Weymouth Crematorium tomorrow (Fri). This will be followed by a sharing of memories at Weymouth Football Club.