Gavin Duncan, who has died aged 72, could be considered one of the best customers of Costa Coffee in Broughty Ferry.
The retired DC Thomson worker met with friends at the branch almost every day.
He loved to sit outside and chat, according to his son, also Gavin,
“He was a fixture there. It was a chance to meet up and share company, to put the world to rights, it was part of his routine.”
Gavin Duncan was born in Dundee in February 1950.
His father, John, was a bus driver, with his mother Alexandrina (Rena) also working for a spell in annual production at DC Thomson’s Guthrie Street works.
Move to America
While he was young, the family, including older brother Fergus, moved to the United States for a few years when his father secured employment at a new Timex factory in Abilene, Texas.
Gavin was educated at Davy Crockett Elementary School in Texas and at secondary level at Rockwell High School when the family returned to Dundee.
He left school aged 16 and began an apprenticeship with publishers DC Thomson and Co. Ltd in Dundee.
Skills
Gavin began to learn his trade as a process engraver at the firm’s Lindsay Street premises, and also spent time at the Meadowside headquarters.
In 1973 he married his wife, Elizabeth, at St David’s North Church. The couple had two of a family; Gavin and Lauren.
He spent more than 37 years with the publisher in the city centre, and latterly in the process department at its Kingsway East printing plant.
In later years, a lot of Gavin’s time was devoted to caring for his mother until her passing in 2019 aged 99 years.
As well as being a devoted family man, Gavin was also a massive follower of Rangers FC, said his son.
Football
“I think the connection with Rangers was through my mother’s family who came from Glasgow.
“Her maiden name was Thomson and several of her family had been prominent players in Rangers sides over the years.
“My mother’s family moved to Dundee when my grandfather became a manager in one of the departments at DM Brown’s store in High Street.
“My mother worked at Dundee High School and would walk down Lindsay Street every day at lunchtime.
Engagement
“My father had noticed her walking past his work, asked her out, and after two weeks he had proposed.”
Gavin’s funeral will take place at Dundee crematorium on Thursday July 14 at 10.30am.
Conversation