PETER Geary, a former landlord of the Swan in Wantage, has died, aged 64.

Mr Geary ran the popular Church Street pub between 1982 and 1991 with his wife Christine, 60. He died at home in Hungerford on Saturday, from a heart attack.

Mr Geary was born on May 26, 1944, in Harrow, London, to Colin and Joan Geary.

After he left school, he started work as a butcher at 17, becoming manager at 19, and owner of a butcher's shop at 21. By the time he was 23, he had four shops of his own, employing more than 40.

Feeling like a change from city life, he moved to St Austell in Cornwall in 1979, with his first wife, Carol. They had one daughter, Claire, 36.

He bought a chain of stores called Morgan's Supermarkets in 1978, which he sold a few years later, before taking on the pub in Wantage and setting up home with second wife Christine, and her three children. He also owned the Snooty Fox, in Newbury.

They moved to Devon in 1992 and then Hungerford in 1996 to retire.

His stepson Nick Ellis, 40, recalled his easy-going nature, his huge number of friends, and the way he took on him and his two sisters, Joanne Gill, 38, and Miranda Howe, 36, as his own.

He said: "He provided everything for us. He gave us security and we used to do everything with him. We were a really close family. We never looked at him as anything other than our dad.

"He was so easy going and lived life to the full. When he had the pub, he was the life and soul of the place. But he also commanded so much respect from the punters. People respected him for the way he ran his business. Everyone knew him, he had so many friends.

"He didn't like Wantage at all, but he liked a lot of the people who used to come in the pub. He was always arranging socials and charity events, and that's what kept him there."

Mr Geary, who had seven grandchildren, counted motor racing, clay pigeon shooting, music, and off-road driving among his hobbies.

Mr Ellis said: "Mum and Pete ran the pub together, they spent virtually all day together for 30 years. All the grandchildren worshipped him, especially the older two. They were so close and they used to see each other all the time. We will all miss him."

Mr Geary's funeral is on Tuesday, at 11.30am, at Oxford Crematorium, followed by a wake at Brill Social Club. For more details, call Mr Ellis on 07768 777111.