A man who fostered over 90 children collapsed and died after arriving in Gran Canaria on holiday.
Scots foster parent Billy Ross, 58, had reached the resort with wife Lynn and three of their kids when he suffered a heart attack in his hotel room on July 10.
Ahead of his funeral yesterday, his daughter Victoria MacRae, 33, told our sister title the Dunfermline Press: “My dad was a man who was larger than life. He was one of a kind and would do anything for anyone and that’s why he was well loved.
“My mum and him fostered children for over 20 years. Some were for short periods but a lot were long term and some even changed their surname to Ross, like my brother Nathan.
“The gala put bunting up around the village for his funeral and we’re expecting at least 300 people. Only he could understand his sense of humour at times but he was always fun and would do anything for his family. He was definitely a family man.”
Billy had an underlying heart condition for the last four years and had an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) fitted. He suffered a scare last month but was given the all clear by doctors for his trip to Gran Canaria.
Victoria added: “I’ve not known anyone who does not have a nice thing to say about my dad. We moved to Cairneyhill in 1994 from East Kilbride and the amount of flowers and condolences we’ve been sent as a family is just amazing.
“He had a big impact on everybody but especially my mum who describes my dad as her best friend. They were childhood sweethearts and met when she was only 16 and he was 17. They were married for 38 years.
“They had four children, myself and two sisters, Nicola and Samantha and my brother Nathan. They also have seven grandchildren. Six of them are ours but he also has one from a former foster child who calls him grandad!”
This article originally appeared on our sister title's website, the Dunfermline Press
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