FORMER Oxford Mail reporter Chris Peterson, who has died aged 70, travelled to many parts of the world in a long career as a journalist.

He was described by his family as a 'wonderful husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, colleague and friend, and a good-humoured, globe-trotting bon vivant'.

Christopher Martin Peterson was born in Nottingham to Stan and Prue Peterson on February 2, 1947.

The son of the local policeman, he was the eldest of three children, alongside brother Bob and sister Kate.

From his father, he developed a love for rugby and anything with an engine, an obsession he kept for life.

He attended Southfield Grammar School in Glanville Road, Oxford – now Oxford Spires Academy – from 1958 to 1965.

After leaving school, he joined the Oxford Mail as a reporter, the start of a journalistic career that would span six decades.

In 1970, he left Oxford for London and joined the sports desk at Reuters news agency.

He was then given a two-year posting to South-East Asia as a Reuters foreign correspondent, covering Singapore, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

One assignment was covering the Vietnam War.

In Vietnam, he met fellow journalist Tuyet Mai. They lost touch, but 10 years later, they met again when Mr Peterson joined the Paris bureau of Reuters and found his long-lost companion working at the French news agency, Agence France Presse.

They married at St Bartholomew’s Church, Holton, near Wheatley, in September 1982 and went on to have two daughters.

After returning to Paris and following a spell in London, Mr Peterson was appointed Reuters’ chief correspondent in Hong Kong.

The couple returned to London in 1990, and in 1998, Mr Peterson took a senior editorial role with Bloomberg news agency, a job that entailed more international travel.

His final post was as the London-based European managing editor of China Daily, China’s oldest English language newspaper.

He wrote his last column – a colourful description of London’s new Chinese-designed buses – two weeks before his death.

Mr Peterson, who died of cancer on July 28, leaves widow Mai, daughters Kim Elisabeth and Mai-anh Christine and grandchildren Joe and Evie.

A celebration of his life took place at St Mary’s Church, Blackheath, London.