FRIENDS and family gathered to remember a well-loved Barrhead business man.

Brian Corcoran, owner of wholesale food business Corcoran Food Distribution, passed away at the age of 69 on Friday, January 11 after an eight-month battle with inoperable oesophageal cancer.

Known to many as ‘Corky’, Brian was known in the town for his preference for wearing a collar and tie and his unique sense of time-keeping, which soon became known as ‘Corky time’.

Born in 1949, Brian grew up in Paisley with his brothers, Peter and William and his sisters, Margaret, Anne and Georgina and throughout the 1960s, he had a great passion for music, especially the drums and singing with various groups in and around Paisley- one of his friends during that time was Gerry Rafferty.

Barrhead News:

In 1970, Brian married his wife Liz Ann, now a retired teacher, and they went on to have their daughter, Julie.

Speaking to the Barrhead News about Brian’s life, Liz Ann, said: “He was only diagnosed eight months ago. He had two lots of chemotherapy and they put in a stent to help him swallow which helped for a while- in his last week, he was very weak.

“I have been overwhelmed with cards and flowers- he was very well known. People came up to speak to me at the crematorium who I didn’t know but they knew Brian between the shop and so on. “He was ever so popular- everybody liked him.

“The mass itself- when I turned around and seen the crowd, I thought ‘wow who are all these people’. One side was completely full, and the other side was half full and St. John’s is a big church to fill.”

Brian was a member of the Fereneze Golf Club and organised several annual golf trips to Portugal and three years ago, Brian and Liz Ann had bought a house over in Arran.

She said: “In preparation in Brian retiring, we bought a house in Arran. He loved it there and we spent half the week there and did that for three years.”

Although Brian had plans to retire, he never quite got around to it as he was determined to keep going, despite his illness.

In December, Andrew Kirk took over the reins at Corcoran Food Distribution, who Brian was ‘delighted’ to appoint as the new owner.

“He has known Andrew since he was a toddler,” Liz Ann said.

“He had said ‘that’s who I wanted all along’ about Andrew taking over the business.”

She added that she has been ‘overwhelmed’ and 'grateful' with all the support she has been given.

“Brian will be well missed in Barrhead, for a Paisley man,” she teased.

Over £400 was collected from Brian’s funeral, which will be donated by Liz Ann to Cancer Research UK.