A beloved dad from Edinburgh and bodyguard to the stars has tragically passed away after spending two years on dialysis from kidney failure as a side effect of diabetes.
Grandad Bob Cairns spoke of his joy at seeing his little girl Carina get married and have her first child shortly before he died - while his family described grandson Luca as the light of his life.
Bob, 74, died peacefully at home and leaves daughter Carina Starrs, 30, wife Louisa Cairns, 67, and one year-old Luca. The family have been devastated by the loss but touched by the hundreds of tributes that have flooded in for the 'unsung hero' of Forth Radio.
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The couple worked together and Louisa reflected on their early days at the radio station. She said: "I was working there at a time in the newsroom as a secretary, then we got together and there was some work going on in the building.
"They needed an extra pair of hands, one thing led to another and he ended up staying there for 37 years. He started at Forth Radio in 1987, he did a bit of engineering, security, catering, admin and driving the OB trucks.
"He worked at Rock Steady Security before this doing gigs and he was the doorman at Sticks on George Street in the 70s and 80s where we met.
"Bob was a manager and did security at high-profile gigs - he was a bit of a name dropper. He did a lot of high-profile gigs, he looked after Elton John, Rod Stewart and people like that.
"He loved telling stories and didn't always tell exactly what happened but he would always tell you who he had been working with."
Louisa and Bob got made redundant when Forth Radio was bought over by Bauer in the 00s. She said: "We were both made redundant 16 years ago when it was bought over but they realised a lot of stuff Bob had put in place at the radio so they needed him.
"He had to start his own limited company and become a contractor to keep working there. He was only away for a few months then he was there doing bits and bobs for the next 16 years."
At home, Bob was always a devoted dad and husband and when grandson Luca was born they formed a close bond.
Carina said: "At pre-teen, I was very much a daddy's girl. We did everything together, we went to Florida a lot and he was one of those dads who would go on all the rollercoasters - he never said 'no' to anything.
"Being the only child we were always close and even more so when my son Luca was born last year - he was the light of my dad's life.
"The two highlights in the last couple of years for him were watching me get married and having my son. You could almost see him tear up every time he saw Luca.
"My dad had type two diabetes and high blood pressure since I was born which never really affected him as such but about two years ago kidneys began to fail because of the diabetes so he was on dialysis for the last two years.
"He had said to me when I was pregnant he never thought he would get to be a grandad because there was a big age gap, he was 42 when I was born so I think he assumed when I had kids he wouldn't be here.
"So it was a real miracle for him that he got to be a grandad. In the last year, it was one of the only things that mattered to him that he could spend time with Luca."
Dad and daughter got an extra two weeks together after they coincidentally both ended up in the same hospital just before he died.
She said: "Around six weeks ago dad and I ended up in the hospital on the same day. He was getting a scan of his heart and I was in for kidney stones and my husband was away for work.
"For those two weeks after I was staying with my mum and dad so I got that two-week bonus with him - which he loved because he had Luca in the house.
"It was a pure coincidence we were both sent by our different doctors at the same time and ended up in the same hospital."
The family were blown away by the number of family and friends who came to pay their respects at his funeral.
His daughter Carina continued: "Anyone and everyone have been paying tributes. We were expecting around 80 people at the funeral but there were easily 130, and most were just people from Forth over the years. People came up from London specifically for the funeral which was really nice."
Carina spent a lot of time growing up at Forth Radio and many friends were jealous but she never thought it was anything out of the ordinary because it's all she knew.
She explained: "Both of my parents spent most of their time there, so I spent most of my life there growing up and listening to music.
"It was one of those things, it was pretty normal for me but everyone else was like omg your parents are so cool. I got to go and do things a lot of kids didn't get to do. I got to go backstage at a lot of things.
"I had to help him do security when JLS came up because it was all little girls. He told me he needed someone that would understand why the little girls were behaving so crazily. I went on lots of the radio shows over the years too."
Bob's wife remembers a special memory of when he made a star's day.
Louisa said: "There was the time Robbie Williams was up, he had been interviewed by various people. Bob always liked to cook throughout his life and loved to make things.
"All the staff were like 'oh no we've forgotten to get food for Robbie Williams' and he was like I'll do it. Robbie Williams then went out of his way to thank him afterwards.
"Robbie made a special effort to say thanks to Bob with a handwritten card and personalised Robbie Williams branded cuff links to say thank you.
"Normally no one asks him what kind of sandwiches he likes but Bob had gone out of his way to find out before making him something he liked."
Bob was head of security at Forth Radio, now known as Forth One. For many years this included taking on the notorious task of monitoring the Boogie on the Boat trips.
His daughter continued: "He always inferred there were loads of crazy stories but he never told them - it was always what happens on the boat stays on the boat. Which the presenters would be very pleased about.
"Whenever anyone famous came to the station he was in charge of making sure they got there okay and taking care of them. It was honestly anything and everything - he did a lot on the charity side.
"For Cash for Kids at Christmas he would drive around the city to pick up the toys and was there running the van when Santa was at the Gyle at Christmas."
Louisa also talked about who he was as a person and how his kind nature touched so many lives through his many career paths over the decades.
She said: "Bob had a million lives, he was something different to everybody. He was very laidback, nothing ever really bothered him and nothing was too much of a hassle he just did it.
"Seeing the amount of people that came forward and said so many nice things about him just showed how many people's lives he had an impact on.
"He could talk to anybody, anybody from any walk of life with any personality or problems. He was so good with people.
"He was very well-read on a lot of things and loved his National Geographic magazines always had done since he was a teenager. You would hear really obscure questions on a quiz show and he would come out with the answer."
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Before the days of being a security guard to the stars, Bob worked on British Airways flights in the early 70s and had many tales to tell.
She said: "He was really well-travelled. He started as a passenger assistant and he used to be responsible for a lot of kids getting transported between Edinburgh and London for boarding school.
"There were two little girls who were twins who had down syndrome, and he took so much joy in taking one of them on each arm through the airport and treating them like royalty, they would be so overwhelmed feeling like princesses for a day - he absolutely loved that.
"He also remembered being on duty when the Queen was on and he would always say she is just a wee old woman like my mother, he just treated everyone the same.
"He had to in a way because he worked with so many famous people over the years but just gave his kindness to everyone."
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