Chelmsford-born IT project manager Paul Steel tragically died following a heart condition last Thursday.

Paul, who was 33, leaves a widow Charlotte, to whom he had been married for 13 months.

His parents Margaret and Derek, who have a younger son, Philip, 30, live in Crompton Street, where he was brought up.

Paul attended King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, from 1979-1986, where he excelled and gained 13 O levels and 3 A levels.

He then obtained an accounting job at the Baltic Exchange in the City of London, but after 14 years at the Exchange Paul wanted a new challenge in life and found that IT was an ideal stepping stone in his career.

Last year he moved to JSS Pinnacle, with the role of providing network support and IT consultancy inside and outside the company. He was part way through the prestigious MCSE qualification.

A keen golfer he had been a cadet and then a member at Chelmsford Golf club and had a handicap of 17. He won Captains Day in 1987.

Paul met his future wife Charlotte amongst friends in London four years ago, and they married in September 2000 in her hometown of Wilton, Wiltshire.

They bought a house seven weeks ago in Tooting and had been looking forward to raising a family when the tragedy occurred. Paul was on his was on his way home from work last Thursday when he collapsed at a railway station and was taken by ambulance to West Middlesex hospital, Isleworth.

Members of the public and doctors fought to save his life, but tragically he died, and a subsequent post mortem revealed a heart condition, aortic valve disease.

Paying tribute, his managing director John Swiney said "There are a few people we employ who have so quickly won the trust and confidence of so many in our organisation. We are a tight knit community and we will all miss Paul. There is nothing so unfair in life as someone dying before their time."

Funeral arrangements are yet to be finalised.

Published Friday November 23, 2001