The family of a Yetminster DJ have paid tribute to a loving father whose musical heroes inspired their names.

Father-of-four Roy Adams was 63 when he died last month just over a year after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

The Big O Disco DJ first realised something was not quite right early last year.

Daughter Leah Hughes, 31, of Sherborne, said: “That Christmas he had what he thought was the flu, he was really tired and didn’t feel well. He went to A&E where he was given antibiotics and sent home.

“Then two weeks later he was driving his car and had a headache and nearly crashed, so we took him back to A&E where they did a CT scan which showed he had a brain tumour.”

Mr Adams underwent a 12-hour operation on his brain followed by weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment.

And just days after the brain surgery, the lifelong Yeovil Town FC supporter, who requested family and friends wear the club’s colours to his funeral, was back supporting his team at a Saturday game.

Mrs Hughes added: “He had his operation on Monday and was discharged on Tuesday. He was so strong that he had to prove to us that he could do it so if you said to him, ‘go home and rest’, then he would have been out doing something ridiculous.

“He was very positive, very optimistic. I think being told you are going to die is a massive thing but he took it on the chin. He didn’t let it get him down, he just carried on.”

Born in Yeovil in 1948, Mr Adams attended Westfield, Summerleaze Park and Yeovil Technical College before gaining work as a carpentry and joinery apprentice with Slogget and Perry.

He worked his way up to senior management positions with companies such as Bartletts, Bayfords, Cowlins and finally Snibor.

He married Penny in November 1975 and they had four children together, Cindy, Leah, Katie and Kelton, and eight granddaughters.

As a teenager, he was a self-confessed mod and would wear his parka with pride while riding his Vespa 125 scooter.

A big music fan, his love for Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison played a big part in his life and he even named his DJ business The Big O Disco after the latter. His children’s names also have links to the two singers and he met idol Orbison while on honeymoon.

Daughter Katie Adams, 29, of Yeovil, said: “I was having a disco for my tenth birthday and the DJ let me down so he just hired some equipment and did the disco himself. Obviously he enjoyed it and it went from there. For him, the glass was always half full rather than half empty.”

In the early days, his daughters helped their father by encouraging children to dance along to the music, and Mr Adams played his last gig in the White Hart Inn, Yetminster, last November.

Mrs Hughes added: “He wanted Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire playing as people entered the crematorium which did prompt a few phone calls from the funeral directors asking, ‘Are you sure?’

“He was very mischievous, he made a lot of jokes. I remember driving along with him as a child and he would wind down the window and shout, ‘Hello Mr Spaghetti Head’.

“He was still making jokes at the end, he was so quick-witted even though he wasn’t very well at all.”

Mr Adams, who also enjoyed fishing and bagging a bargain, has requested that his ashes be scattered at Abbotsbury where he would often visit.

The family would like to thank all those who cared for their father, especially staff at Poole hospital, and funeral director David Rivett.