A loyal supervisor, former golf captain and water polo player who worked for the Express & Star for nearly 40 years has died peacefully aged 71.

Ken Dando, from Woodfield Heights in Tettenhall, started work for the company in the early 1960s as a compositor, helping to lay-out adverts for the newspaper, before becoming a deputy pre-press supervisor.

In his later years he worked in page management control where pages are transmitted to various print sites in the group.

Mr Dando was also a keen golfer who ran the company’s golf society, and he also pursued his hobby outside of work at Oxley Golf Club.

He captained the club in 1991 and then became president for three years.

Former colleague and current Express & Star group pre-press manager David Ham, 58, was full of praise for Ken.

He said: “He was a very popular, well known and hard-working character who was also very entertaining on the golf course.”

Mr Dando retired in 2000.

He leaves wife, Patricia Anne, sons Mark and Nicholas and four grandchildren.

His funeral is tomorrow  at Bushbury Crematorium’s East Chapel at 10.30am.