THE family of a Heswall great granddad with a "heart of gold" who died after he was knocked down by a car in Wirral have paid tribute to the man they say lived life to the full.

Mervyn Bruce Taylor - known as "Merv" to his family and friends - tragically died in hospital on November 10 after he was hit by the car on Barnston Road, Barnston on November 5.

In a tribute, his family said the 88-year-old will be remembered as being a "very loving, caring, sociable, popular and gregarious" man who adored his family and loved being with both them and friends.

Merv is the widower of Pam, father of Melissa and Chris, proud grandfather of James, Daisy and Bethany and great grandfather to Emily.

He was described as being a very opinionated person who loved nothing more than standing at the bar of his local pub putting the world to rights.

He would share his opinions with anyone, his family said, even if they didn't want to listen. He even managed to get a reply from Prime Minister David Cameron noting and thanking him for his opinions.

Mervyn's daughter Melissa said: "My dad lived life to the full.  He was a very independent, strong willed and active man and was very fit for his age. 

"If he wanted something in life or mum wanted anything he would work very hard to achieve it, in fact he worked that hard in life that he forgot to retire and was still working as an accountant at the age of 88. 

"Dad was a very charitable man and received recognition for his services to charity when both he and mum received a royal invite to a garden party at Buckingham Palace. 

"He was a very caring man and in 2003 when mum suffered a stroke, he devoted the next eight years caring for her so she didn’t have to go into a home.  Everything he did was for other people.”

Mervyn's main enjoyment came from getting away with his family and he was very fond of going on cruises.

He owned an apartment in Malaga and a caravan in Porthmadog.  As children Melissa and Chris spent many a happy caravanning holiday there.

Son Chris said: "He was a lifelong Liverpool supporter and season ticket holder.  He loved going to the game and loved socialising with his mates, dissecting the game over a post-match pint. 

"His hobbies were that of playing golf badly and socialising in between working.  He was old school at work and wasn’t down with technology and calculators and worked everything out in his head. 

"Above all this his main passion in his life was spending quality time with his wife, children and family, holidaying and living life to the full”.

Granddaughters Daisy, 20 and Bethany, 19 also paid tribute to their loving and caring granddad.

They said: "He had a wonderful and long life doing many things he enjoyed, including travelling to lots of places around the world.

"He was well liked by everyone that knew him and had lots of friends. He was well known for his friendly nature and sense of humour. We loved spending time with him and we could always rely on him for anything.

"We will really miss him and remember him forever”. 

Melissa and Chris, added, "The family adored him and we can’t put into words how much he will be missed.  We know he is safely reunited with mum now who will be no doubt planning his next holiday”.  

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