FORMER DC Thomson reporter Derek Ross has died in Toulouse, France. He was 47.
Derek, elder son of Ron and Wilma Ross, who live in Longforgan, began his career as a trainee on The Courier and Evening Telegraph titles.
An ebullient and cheerful lad, he took his first steps into the professional world of words and paragraphs when he was 14, as evening copy boy on The Courier, fetching and carrying stories and photos to various departments in the then Bank street premises.
This early experience convinced him he wanted to be a journalist and he joined the company in 1982, serving in the Dundee and Cupar offices. Latterly he was The Courier aviation reporter.
In 1987 he took up the post of media relations manager with British Airways.
During his eight years with BA, Derek led the PR campaign for the proposed Heathrow Terminal Five and was in charge of media coverage of several high-profile accidents, plus the handling of flights home of Middle East hostages.
He travelled extensively, representing BA in New York, Washington, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Seattle and the Far East. He also enjoyed numerous trips on Concorde, hosting TV crews and journalists.
On the Friday evening of the Lockerbie disaster in 1988, despite being a loyal BA employee, he walked into the HQ of main rival PanAm, in London, and volunteered to help.
He worked throughout the night, dealing with phone calls from relatives and the world media.
In 1996 he was appointed head of internal communications with Airbus, in Toulouse, and launched the company magazine, read by 45,000 employees around the world.
This was followed in 2003 with a move to Barcelona, as head of communications for American conglomerate General Electric, with 18 months also spent with GE in Budapest.
He was appointed head of internal communications for Vodafone in Newbury, Berkshire, in 2007, and this was followed in 2009 with a return to Budapest as chief corporate communications executive for Norwegian telecoms company Telenor.
In 2011 Derek set up a consultancy business, Dekros Communication, and landed contracts with General Electric and another American giant, Tyco.
He had just completed a six-month contract with Tyco in March 2012 when he became ill.
A keen sportsman, he was a member of a very successful rugby team at Harris Academy and was selected for the Scotland under-15 squad.
He enjoyed skiing in the Pyrenees, not far from his home in Levignac, and kept fit by running and cycling.
Derek met Florence Perrot when on holiday in St Tropez.
Florence, from Marseille, was a student at the Sorbonne, and they were married in Provence in 1994.
Derek is survived by Florence, daughter Alexa (17) and son Jacques (14), his parents Ron and Wilma and his brother Colin.