A FATHER-of two who embarked on sailing voyages across the world has died aged 81.

Patrick Grant lived in Oxfordshire for more than 50 years, in Headington, Horspath and later Abingdon, working for W H Smith in county newspaper distribution for almost 40 years.

He was an avid sailor and his journeys took him across the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans.

Patrick David Grant was born on July 26, 1932 in his first home, in Aberdeen, which overlooked Stuart Park.

When he was eight, he moved to London with his parents, Peter and Elsie and sister Moreen.

His father was a mechanical engineer, needed in efforts to repair war-damaged planes.

In 1942 the family moved to Headington, Oxford, after their London home was damaged by a bomb.

Their new house was in Windmill Road and Mr Grant attended Salesian College, the Catholic grammar school, in Cowley.

After finishing, he did his National Service at 18 with the Royal Air Force and was stationed in Ismailia, Egypt, on the Suez Canal. In later years he would join the Suez Veterans’ Society.

After returning home in the 1950s, he took a job testing cars at the Morris Motors factory, before joining W H Smith’s newspaper distribution department, in Horspath, at around 1957.

In 1959 he met his wife, Olga Tinnion, a nurse at the Radcliffe Infirmary, on Woodstock Road.

They married in 1961 in St Laurence’s church, Scalby, and moved in together into a home in Gidley Way, Horspath, during the same year.

In 1962 they had their first child, Iain, followed by Alison, in 1965.

The family moved to Virginia Way, Abingdon, in 1971.

In 1995 Mr Grant retired from his job at W H Smith and in 1998 he and his wife moved to Inverness, Scotland, because Mr Grant wished to be closer to his family roots.

His hobbies mainly consisted of sailing and this was the main focus of holidays.

During his life, he sailed to a variety of destinations with his wife, including the Falklands, the Ascension Islands, Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, Easter Island, the Pitcairn and Cook Islands, New Zealand and many others.

One particular trip in 1996 saw him crew aboard a Russian ice-breaker vessel for eight weeks on a journey which took him to Antarctica.

He was a prominent member of the Clan Grant Society and at one stage was its membership secretary.

Patrick Grant died of lymphoma on February 23, surrounded by his family.

He is survived by his wife, his son who lives in Barcelona, and his daughter who lives in Perth, Australia.

A funeral was held in Daviot Church, Inverness, on March 5.