Husband to Eileen. Father to Michelle and Rachel. Dadda to Milne-Thomas, Archie and Evelyn. He was the most thoughtful, selfless, kind hearted man and our hearts will never be whole again.

He met my mum when he was 12 and she was 11, from that very moment they were soulmates whose love was clear for all to see.

My dad lived for his family. He was the Dad who got down to play with you, baked birthday cakes, lifted us over his head after letting us watch Dirty Dancing and worked any job he could to make sure we never missed a school trip or went without.

As we got older he would play taxi driver, ferrying us to and from our friends houses and college parties, letting gangs of teenagers sleep over so he knew that we were safe. He would stay awake until we got home from nights out, gate crash our camping trips and rescue us from any situation we found ourselves in that meant we instantly called for Dad.

He was the husband who paced the hospital floors when my Mum was poorly and who wouldn’t let her go for a walk alone incase something happened and he wasn’t there to keep her safe. He had her coffee ready every morning and always lit a candle so it smelled nice when she came downstairs.

Even as he got older and we accused him of turning into a grumpy old man, he was our provider, our protector, our comforter and our hero all rolled into one and despite his aching knees and bad back, when he became a Dadda he did it all again.

He would take our babies in his arms and comfort them when we didn’t know what to do, he would turn up with his cap on and take them for walks in their prams. He taught them to ride bikes, built them dens, crawled around the garden with them on his back and made sure that they too never went without.

Dad hated fuss and fall outs. Living with three women he learnt to be the one to restore the calm and bring us all back down to earth when needed. He took great pleasure in helping others, if he had something to give then he would give it, no matter how big or small.

He always was and always will be our everything, and I will be forever grateful that we are blessed to call him ours.