Tributes have been paid to a Dundee lollipop man whose body is thought to have lain undiscovered for a month.
Pat Dagan was found at his home in the Lochee area by a window cleaner. Neighbours had thought the 83-year-old had been away on holiday.
Mr Dagan’s cousin Pete Lonie said: “The police contacted us on Friday to inform us about what had happened. Apparently a window cleaner had come round, opened the letterbox and phoned the police.”
Mr Lonie’s wife, Etta, added: “He lived alone and kept to himself. Pat didn’t have a lot of other family and we hadn’t seen him in about four years.
“It made sense the neighbours thought he had gone on holiday. He loved to travel and had been all over the place.”
The pensioner had been the lollipop man at St Mary’s RC Primary School, close to where he lived.
Lochee councillor Tom Ferguson said: “Pat was a genuinely jovial guy. He was well known and well respected all throughout the area. The children adored him and I know he’ll be greatly missed.”
After serving in the Merchant Navy, Mr Dagan worked at Dundee’s Timex factory before retiring.
One of his former Timex colleagues Jim Low is now head of the parent council at St Mary’s.
He said: “He was so committed to his work and helping others in the area.
“The kids just loved him and he would always be giving them high-fives as he helped them cross the street. He would help everyone he came into contact with, specially women with prams.
“He was always there, rain or shine.
“Pat was so fantastic to the kids and was definitely a community pillar. His passing is a really sad loss for St Mary’s and for Lochee as a whole.”
A neighbour of Mr Dagan said: “I just feel awful that he was in there for so long without anyone knowing.”