Everybody felt good when Iain was around

A YOUNG man who worked for a top city firm has died suddenly after suffering a heart attack.

Iain Livingstone, 37, had an undiagnosed heart condition which killed him at his Musselburgh home.

Today his family paid tribute to the Standard Life employee who moved to the Lothians 12 years ago after leaving South Africa.

Hundreds of his fellow workers turned out on Tuesday to pay their respects at his funeral.

Mr Livingstone's father-in-law, Richard Skorupa, 58, said: "Iain was one of those people in life that comes along and they just make everybody feel good.

"From the first time we met him, he was really part of the family."

Mr Livingstone married his wife Dawn Marie in 2004 and the couple had been due to celebrate their anniversary later this month.

The dental nurse, 34, said: "He didn't take anything too seriously. His favourite saying was 'I'll do it just now', which in South Africa means any time between now and next year."

Mr Livingstone grew up in Cape Town, but eventually returned to his parents' roots in the Lothians and fell in love with Scotland.

His mother, Alice Wearne, grew up in Armadale and father, John Thomas Livingstone, was originally from Fauldhouse, playing for Bathgate Thistle before landing a deal with Cape Town City football club.

It was in the South African city that Mr Livingstone grew up with his parents and older brother Alan.

He moved to Edinburgh at the age of 26, after being made redundant from his job at a Cape Town shipping company and deciding to take the opportunity to go travelling.

Mr Skorupa said: "Iain asked his mother why she had left Edinburgh, because he thought it was beautiful. He was won over by Scotland and didn't go any further on his travels."

In 2002, he met Dawn Marie during a night out in the city. The couple hit it off immediately and were married at Our Lady of Loretto and St Michael RC Church, Musselburgh, two years later.

After living in Penicuik for two years, working as a restaurant manager at the former Royal Hotel, Mr Livingstone took a post as a trainer at Standard Life.

He worked in the firm's city centre office for nearly ten years, also serving as a staff representative, and was recently promoted to the post of team manager in the individual pension claims department.

He was suffering from undiagnosed ischemic heart disease, which affects the blood vessels supplying the heart with oxygen.

More than 100 colleagues from Standard Life turned out at his funeral on Tuesday, with the company running a bus for people who wanted to pay their respects.

They all wore ribbons in the green and yellow colours of the South African rugby team Mr Livingstone followed passionately.

Well over £1000 has been raised in Mr Livingstone's memory, which will be donated to the British Heart Foundation and either the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh or a cerebral palsy charity.