THE father of a ‘beautiful soul’ who died just 10 months after being diagnosed with cancer says he has been overwhelmed by the number of lives his son touched.

Peter Turner paid an emotional tribute to his son Bill who lived in Weymouth and Dorchester before moving to Wales.

Family and friends rallied around to help Bill tick off a bucket list of final wishes and helped raise £7,000 for his family.

Peter, who lives in Weymouth with wife Bridget, said Bill was a “generous, reliable and helpful” man who adored his wife and two daughters.

The 42-year-old died just 10 months after being diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs).

Bill attended school at St Nicholas and St Laurence, Dorchester Middle School, Wey Valley and the Thomas Hardye School as the family moved between Weymouth and Dorchester.

He was a keen athlete and played for local football teams and was a popular member of the local snooker league.

Bill’s distraught father Peter said he and his wife Bridget have been “touched” by the heartwarming efforts of members of the community during the family’s devastating plight.

The 79-year-old said: “We would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who wrote lovely tributes to Bill and who contributed to the fundraiser to support his wife Barbara and their girls Ruby and Ava. It’s been spectacular.

“Bill moved to North Wales and everyone there has always made him feel so welcome.

“Bill was a cockney, born in Bethnal Green. Part Irish and part Chinese; we adopted him at the age of four.

“We also adopted his sister Melanie, as well as having two of our own children, as it seemed to be harder for the authorities to place mixed race children in those days and we strongly believed in helping people.

“Bill - or Billy as we called him - was the youngest of our four children, which include Josef, Melanie and Natasha.

Natasha lives in Weymouth, Josef on Portland and Melanie in Australia.

Peter added: “When he was in the cub scouts, he made more money than any other child in Dorchester because of his cheeky grin.

“He was a competent musician and was a good guitarist who wrote songs. He was also a good athlete in his youth.

“He played snooker and was secretary of his local league.

“He worked as a projectionist in Cineworld, Llandudno Junction, where he met Barbara, and they got married and had two girls before Bill went on to work as a field service engineer for B2 Business Systems.”

Peter added: “Bill was always generous and helpful with others so it’s no surprise people thought so highly of him.

“At one time, he thought about becoming a chef, and he had all kinds of skills and a range of experience. He was creative and could turn his hand to most things.

“Bill always got on with the job. He was very reliable.”

Scores of tributes paid to Bill on social media described him as a “true gent”, a “beautiful soul” and a “great loss to this world”.

Peter said: “We’d just like to say a huge thank you to everyone for their love and support, the staff at Ysbyty Gwynedd and St David’s Hospice who were so helpful, lovely and kind. We are struck and overwhelmed by people’s kindness and generosity. It restores my faith in humanity.”