SALCOMBE man Eric Brisley has died while on a cruise around the Mediterranean last week.

Eric, who recently appeared in the Kings-bridge and Salcombe Gazette after Lloyds bank refused to insure his home due to a 'flooding risk' – despite him living 250 metres above sea level – was on the Med cruise with his wife Edith when

he died on Sunday, June 14.

Born on November 20, 1928, Eric married Edith in 1951 while he was on embarkation leave from the Royal Engineers before he set sail for Singapore.

Edith, a teacher, ­followed him and their son Roger was born in 1953.

When they were returning to England on an RAF ship the same year, disaster struck as an explosion in the engine room of the ship killed four crew members and set the ship alight. Edith, clinging to five-month-old Roger, was placed in a lifeboat with other mothers and children.

Eric, wearing just a pyjama top and dressing gown, jumped into the sea with a life jacket and was picked up by a Dutch ship. He landed on the quay at Algiers to find his wife and son safe.

Bizarrely, after the ship had been abandoned off Algiers, the couple were taken to Gibraltar, from where they were flown home, and they were in the same vicinity on the MS Arcadia when Eric passed away 62 years later.

Eric started work as a civil engineer in 1955 with ICI at Wilton in North Yorkshire. After switching to marketing, he was appointed commercial director of the petrochemicals division.

Further promotion followed and Eric and Edith spent four years in Hong Kong, where he was made chairman of ICI China.

Retirement came for Eric in 1983, at which time a love of sailing brought the couple to Salcombe, where they made many new friends and where Eric became chairman of

the local Conservative Association for eight years.

Eric was also a keen member of Thurlestone Golf Club and was ­captain between 1979 and 1980. A regular with the dawn patrol, Eric was often on the course before most ­people were out of bed.

An outgoing man who wanted to be involved in everything, Eric was a keen ­gardener, winning the 30p first prize for the longest runner bean

at the Thurlestone

and South Milton Horticultural Show, which he entered ­regularly.

His other passions included bridge, which he used to play

at the Regal Club

in Kingsbridge and ­travelling the world with Edith. He was also a member of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies.

Great lovers of music, Eric and Edith were keen followers

of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, which they would ­travel to see regularly, and Eric was a regular letter-writer to

The Times newspaper, being always up

for a good-natured argument.

Eric and Edith were in the process of selling their home in Salcombe to move to Yorkshire

so as to be closer to family – Edith will now make the move later this year.

Eric is survived by his wife Edith, their sons Roger and Stephen, their grandchildren Lucy, Harriet and Alex and their six-month-old great-grandson Emile, all of whom were Eric's pride and joy.