Gordon Bray, best known for his work as a DJ and roadshow entertainer in Fife, has passed away aged 72.
The much-loved father and grandfather, who was a huge Beatles fan, spent most of his adult life living in Burntisland.
Gordon was born in Lochgelly on October 21 1951 – the youngest of four children for Susan and George Bray.
The family moved to Ballingry when Gordon was a young boy and he attended Ballingry Primary and Ballingry High School.
Gordon had always loved music.
When he was a teenager, aged just 13, he formed his own band called The Other Side.
He was a drummer in the band.
Upon leaving school, Gordon did an apprenticeship in TV and film mechanics before joining the RAF in Elgin as an air photographer in 1973/74.
Gordon had been in the Navy, Army and Air Force Institute (NAAFI) in Elgin one night and the DJ never turned up.
His friends then asked him if he would step in and that’s how his love for DJing started.
After leaving the RAF, he moved back to Fife and worked as a store assistant at Pringles electrical shop in Kirkcaldy.
In 1975 Gordon met Rick Edwards who was a DJ on Victoria Radio Network (VRN), Kirkcaldy’s hospital radio station.
Rick asked Gordon if he would like to join the station.
And it was while he was working as a DJ at VRN that he first met best friend, fellow DJ Bob Jones.
During his time at hospital radio, he secured interviews with popular entertainers Bob Monkhouse and Bruce Forsyth.
Gordon played his first DJ set at The Forum Hotel in Glenrothes.
He also played at The Commercial Hotel in Cowdenbeath and The Half Circle pub in Burntisland.
He developed his own entertainment roadshow (Cuddles roadshow accompanied by the Kriss band) where he would DJ at various venues across Fife.
In the late 1970s he was approached to work in the Abbotshall Hotel in Kirkcaldy.
And it was through that he was invited to join Radio Forth as a broadcaster.
At Radio Forth he worked alongside fellow DJ Jay Crawford, who was one of the voices which launched the station in 1975.
It was when he was DJing at the Abbotshall Hotel in Kirkcaldy in 1980 that he would first meet his future wife, Elaine.
Gordon and Elaine courted for five years before they were married in Lochgelly on February 15 1985.
The couple lived in Burntisland after tying the knot.
Before they were married, Gordon left his job as a DJ.
And in 1983/1984 he went to work at electrical shop Dixons, which used to be based in the Mercat Shopping Centre in Kirkcaldy.
He later worked as a security guard at the shopping centre.
Over the next few years he took up posts in car sales locally before becoming a business manager with a car sales company in Edinburgh.
However, Gordon had a heart condition and after having a heart-attack in 1990 at the age of 39, he had to take some time off work.
He ended up leaving car sales.
Instead he secured a part-time job as a bingo caller at the former Rio Bingo Hall in Kirkcaldy.
Unfortunately, he was forced to give up working completely after another spell of ill health.
So instead he stayed at home looking after his two daughters, Claire-Louise, 36, who now lives in Dundee, and Mel, 34, who lives in Burntisland.
Gordon was proud to watch his daughters grow up.
And even more so when they went on to have children of their own.
He became a doting grandfather to Rory,10, who is a huge ice hockey fan, and Toby, 3.
Family was very important to Gordon who enjoyed travelling to Liverpool to visit his cousins and “have a wee drink with them”.
And he would also enjoy a weekly day out – what became known as ‘Bro’s day out’ – with his brothers Norman and George along with good friend, Dave Graham.
They would go to see local bands including Beatles tribute bands as they all loved music.
Gordon also had regular lunch dates with his friends which included Bob Jones and close friend Barbara Becman.
The grandfather-of-two divorced wife Elaine in 2012, but they remained close until his death.
Gordon loved living in Burntisland.
He particularly enjoyed seeing the seaside town come to life during the summer when Burntisland Highland Games was on.
Gordon, who had spent the last three years battling cancer, died on May 22 at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy surrounded by his family.
And such was his love of The Beatles, that one of his last wishes was to have pictures on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on his coffin.
His funeral service took place at Kirkcaldy Crematorium last month.
Beatles music was also played at a gathering for family and friends afterwards at The Sands Hotel in Burntisland.
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