TRIBUTES have been paid to former Dorset Echo deputy editor David Massey who has died at the age of 82.

An old-school newspaperman, David worked for the title for 31 years, joining as a sub-editor in 1963 before being appointed deputy editor in 1977 and retiring in 1994.

He was born in Portsmouth and educated at Gosport Grammar School before serving with the RAF in Egypt. After completing his National Service, David became a junior reporter with the Salisbury Journal before moving to the Portsmouth Evening News.

He then spent four years in Fleet Street in London, working for the Press Association news agency and the Evening Standard before moving to Weymouth in 1963.

David was married to Rosemary for 58 years and they had three children, Nicholas, Caroline and Jonathan, and six grandchildren.

He enjoyed the arts and was a keen supporter of local theatre and a long-standing member of the Dorchester Film Society.

He was also an avid walker and enjoyed exploring the county with Rosemary and their rambling club colleagues.

Former Echo editor Mike Woods, who worked with David for a number of years, said: “David was a first-class journalist and very much of the old school.

“He cared passionately about the paper, about its staff and the local community as a whole.

“He was a thoroughly decent bloke and we always got along very well.”

And current Echo editor Diarmuid MacDonagh added: “He was a proper old-fashioned newspaperman and was an inspiration to many young journalists, including myself.”

Echo arts critic Marion Cox said: : “It was a rare privilege to be a colleague of David whose integrity and kindness shone through everything he did, a thoroughly professional journalist and good friend who will be sadly missed.”

His funeral service will take place at All Saints Church, Wyke Regis, Weymouth, on Wednesday, December 9, at 1pm.

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