A POPULAR retired baker from Burnley has died after he was taken ill on holiday.

Jim Dolphin, 82, was on a Mediterranean cruise with his partner when he complained of chest pains.

He died from pneumonia at Royal Blackburn Hospital on Sunday.

Mr Dolphin worked at Dolphin’s bakery in Oxford Road for four decades after his father, Fred, bought it in 1946 with £460 he won on Littlewood’s Pools.

He ran the shop with his late wife, Audrey, until the mid-1980s before taking retirement at the age of 55.

Mr Dolphin oversaw the opening of the bakery’s Manchester Road site and subsequent move to Phoenix Way in Smallshaw Industrial Estate.

His daughter, Susan Croftdale, 52, said he had enjoyed his lengthy retirement and would be sorely missed by his many friends in Burnley.

She said: “He probably hadn’t been himself for the past 12 months and he wasn’t 100 per cent before he went on the cruise.

“He came home last Friday, was very ill on Monday and was admitted to hospital on Wednesday.

“The staff on all the wards there were absolutely wonderful and I receievd a very touching card from the critical care unit yesterday.

“He lived in Padiham and I still saw him every day. I will really miss him. Everyone I’ve spoken to has said what a lovely man he was.

“He never had a bad word to say about anyone. He was quiet, placid, always whistling and always wore a shirt and tie.

“His two granddaughters Emily and Georgina were the lights of his life. It was Georgina’s 21st birthday this week but it has been tinged with sadness.”

Mr Dolphin, a member of Hurstwood Masonic Lodge, spent his married life in Reedley Grove, Reedley, until Audrey died in 1998.

After her death he lived with his daughter and her husband, Kevin, in Kentmere Close, Burnley, before moving to Padiham with his partner, Brenda Morton, 10 years ago.

His funeral will take place at noon on August 19 at Burnley Crematorium.