Alan Godding, who was one of the pioneering team who launched the Shropshire Star in 1964, has died at the age of 83.

And it was to Alan, who would become the paper's chief sub editor, and deputy editor, to whom fell the honour of sub editing the lead story on the front page on that historic day.

"I was very proud of that, that I got to sub the first splash in the first edition," Alan recalled at the time of the 60th anniversary of the paper, which was in the vanguard of a publishing revolution in Britain.

But being at the cutting edge of new printing and production technology had its pitfalls as on that first day, October 5, 1964, the printing press of Britain's newest newspaper threw a wobbly.

"They couldn't get the press to work. It huffed and puffed and chugged but nothing came out," said Alan.

Happily the presses at Ketley did start working, although teething problems persisted for months.

Alan, from Wellington, was a widower and is survived by children Ian and Jo, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. The funeral is at Telford crematorium on January 20 at 11.15am. 

He was born in Ipswich, but the Godding family moved to Market Harborough, and it was at Market Harborough Grammar School that Alan met Sue Lapworth, his future bride.

He started his journalistic career on the Harborough Mail, taking the place of somebody who had been called up for National Service.

He became a sports sub editor on the Nottingham Evening News but when that paper closed was taken on as a news sub editor - sub editors write the headlines and lay out stories and pictures, creating the look of the page - on the rival Nottingham Evening Post. However, he was not happy there so when his parents, who lived in Trench, tipped him off about the new evening newspaper being launched in Shropshire he successfully applied for a sub editing job. 

Alan said he turned out to be the last member of the young editorial team taken on before the paper's launch. 

On the big day there was a choice between leading the front page with the story of the Star's launch, or with a story about an industrial dispute.

"Ted Ireland, the editor, decided he would go for a real news story – the story about the industrial dispute. I got the job of sub editing the splash." 

Alan added: "Everybody was very pleased and proud that they got the new paper going. It was very exciting being on this voyage of discovery. Quite a lot of experienced journalists there were thrilled to bits to be on it. I was.

"There were such technological advances with the Shropshire Star and there were no other papers anywhere near it."

As chief sub and later deputy editor, Alan was a key figure in the Star story over many years, and had an unusual break in the 1980s when he spent three months in China to get a daily paper there up and running. On his return he gave talks about his experiences. He would become editor in chief of Shropshire Weekly newspapers, and retired at the age of 55, giving him and Sue the opportunity to pursue their love of travel, with visits to places like Australia, America, and Hong Kong.

Daughter Jo Williams said: "When he retired, he said he was going to do three things. Take on an allotment, which he did, learn to play a musical instrument - he learned to play the saxophone and clarinet, and played in an RAF band - and learn a language, which I don't think he mastered.

"He definitely made the most of his retirement."

A competitive cyclist in his young days, cycling was a lifelong passion, and Jo said that he worked with Mick Jeggo in organising professional races in Newport and later the Newport Nocturne.

He was a keen squash player, who played for the Star team, and an avid concert-goer.

Alan lived in Haygate Drive, Wellington, but preferred the style of the house across the road, while the neighbours living there wanted something bigger - like Alan's house. So they moved into each other's house, which proved less straightforward than you might think.

"I can remember it so clearly. All the other neighbours were helping. One wardrobe went backwards and forwards, and nobody recognised it. It was absolute chaos," said Jo.

She added: "Everybody who knew Alan has said to me that he was a very big character - a larger than life character. He was a lovely dad."