Warm tributes have been paid to Gordon Birse of Carnoustie after his sudden death aged 49.
He was a lead hand at oil industry engineering firm Baker Hughes in Montrose and died at work surrounded by colleagues.
His workmates said Gordon was truly loved at Baker Hughes and called him not just a lead hand and colleague but a true friend.
Gordon, known as Birsey, was an accomplished golfer and badminton player who was also was credited with bringing healing to a family scarred by an earlier bereavement.
He married Sharon Bogan, who had lost her husband Neil, became father to her son, Matthew, and became the “medicine” that kept two sides of a family together.
Neil’s brother, Steven, told Gordon’s funeral the Bogans worried what would happen when Sharon met someone and whether contact would remain as strong as before.
“But Gordon brought together a family that needed healed. He was a Birse that became a Bogan and life became easier for us all,” said Steven.
“Gordon was the medicine; he brought us all together. He made the entire family work.” said Steven.
Gordon Birse was born in March 1974 to Jim and Jenny Birse and had a sister, the late Susan.
His father worked at NCR in Dundee and his mother worked at Simpson’s golf shop in Carnoustie.
His father was captain of the Caledonia Golf Club in Carnoustie so it seemed inevitable that Gordon would gravitate towards the sport.
After he left Carnoustie High School, Gordon joined his father at NCR where he worked for 15 years before taking voluntary redundancy and starting work at Baker Hughes in Portlethen.
After five years he moved to GE Oil in Montrose which eventually became part of Baker Hughes.
It was on a night out in Broughty Ferry in 2003 that he met Sharon. They started to date and were married in July 2005.
Gordon became father to Matthew and a year after they married, they welcomed a second son, Owen.
Matthew told the funeral of the massive influence Gordon had on the lives of him, his mother and, later, his brother.
“Coming into a family that was in desperate need of healing was not a small task, but like many things he did, he was just naturally good at it.
“He was willing to step up and help raise me as his own but would absolutely never try to change the past.”
Gordon was a Dundee FC supporter who took his Owen to matches at Dens and also enjoyed family trips to watch Scotland play rugby at Murrayfield.
By contrast, he was also a fan of musicals, a great socialiser in Carnoustie and a regular Monday night badminton player with his nephew Ross.
He played off a two to three handicap and represented Carnoustie Golf Club in the annual Lindsay Shield, facing players from St Andrews and Leven on the Old Course in St Andrews.
On the way to his funeral at Parkgrove crematorium, Friockheim, Gordon’s cortege passed Carnoustie Golf Club and The Rookery.
You can read the family’s announcement here.
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