WARM tributes were paid today to former Greenock Telegraph deputy editor Jimmy McGhie, who has passed away at the age of 89.

Greenock-born Jimmy, pictured,  spent most of his working life at the Telegraph, joining as a copy boy and then becoming a reporter and sub-editor.

He moved to the Evening Times for a number of years as a sub-editor before being invited back to the Tele in the mid-70s to become deputy editor, a post he held until he retired in 1992.

Jimmy worked closely for many years with former editor Ken Thomson, who said today that his colleague was ‘a wholehearted Telegraph man’ who contributed enormously to the paper for decades.

Ken, who retired in 1993, said: “I knew Jimmy almost all of my working life.

“He was a tremendous source of local information and wrote many, many popular features which demonstrated his great, dry sense of humour.”

Jimmy’s writing included the Saturday Sidelight and Talk of the Towns, as well as editorial comment columns, features on a wide variety of subjects and theatre reviews.

Ken said: “Jimmy had a great love of amateur dramatics, and this could be seen in his theatre criticisms, which were always so well written.

“He was a lovely man and such an important part of the Telegraph –  a laid-back, quiet person who just got on with the job.”

Jimmy died peacefully at his Greenock home on April 29.

His late wife, Sheena, who was a nurse, passed away in 1996.

They are survived by daughter Sandra, son Bill, son-in-law Kenny, daughter-in-law Trish, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Sandra said her dad had a wide range of interests, including building his own small boat, and saw national service with the Royal Navy.

He was a member of Skelmorlie Golf Club, Greenock Camera Club, where he was an adjudicator, the RAF Club and Royal West Boat Club.

After he retired, he spent a lot of time with friends in Castle Douglas and often visited his son in Lincoln.

Sandra said: “The Telegraph was a large part of his life. He was very interested in local history, and this helped when he wrote the Talk of the Towns pages. He knew lots of local characters and was a keen musician, playing the clarinet in jazz sessions with friends including former Telegraph advertising director Bill Duncan, and had a busy and enjoyable retirement.”

Jimmy’s funeral service will be at Greenock Crematorium on Monday at 1pm.