A STALWART of The Argus who gave 51 years of service to the newspaper has died.

Keith Winsper passed away on Wednesday morning (October 21), aged 67.

Elsa Gillio, Keith’s wife of 37 years, told The Argus: "He was my invaluable, silent asset – completely unassuming, with a compelling and wonderful mind.

"His knowledge was limitless and I shall miss him always."

Keith’s most recent post with The Argus was as the paper’s commercial feature writer covering property.

He started in the days of hot metal type as a print apprentice before retraining as a journalist in the 1980s.

His first day at The Argus was on Monday August 24, 1964, aged just 16.

On his first day he remembered seeing two print workers having a fight.

“When I got home after my first day my mum said, ‘I don’t think you should go back’,” Keith recalled.

But he did – and stayed on through five decades and saw The Argus change dramatically.

Keith met wife-to-be Elsa two weeks into her career at The Argus in 1973 while she was working in telesales.

They married in 1978.

In 1988, Keith 'crossed the floor' to train as a news reporter following changes in printing technology.

He wrote news and business pages before settling into the features department.

Keith was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in December 2013 but continued working until he officially retired on October 2 having served for 51 years and five weeks.

His many years of service were marked with a 50th anniversary celebration last year.

Speaking ahead of the event, Keith said: “Staying in one job for life certainly wouldn’t suit everybody – but that’s the way I like it. I’ve no regrets.”

Argus editor Mike Gilson said: “Though I only knew Keith for a short time, it didn’t take long to understand he was a fine man, a first-class journalist and a wonderful servant to The Argus. I know he will be sorely missed by his colleagues.”

Elsa said: "Keith was never bitter about his condition and only allowed me ten minutes a week to rant and rave about the unfairness of it all. He insisted we both just got on with it."

Keith passed away at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Elsa added: “The care we received from everyone involved with Keith's condition is beyond praise.

“From the team at the RSCH to the multi disciplinary team who took care of him at home, it was the NHS at its very best.

“The Martlets and The Motor Neurone Disease Association made the devastating journey of living with MND bearable.”

He is survived by his 96-year-old father Eric and his two sisters Heather and Linzi and their families.

Keith's funeral will take place at the Downs Crematorium, Bear Road, Brighton on Friday, October 30, at 3pm.

Poignantly, Keith himself said before his passing: "Those living with motor neurone disease need money far more than I need flowers."

Therefore, no flowers, please, but there will be representatives from the Motor Neurone Disease Association at the service who will be collecting donations in Keith's memory.

Keith Winsper pretty much did it all for The Argus – and that includes delivering the paper. Here, in his own words, are memories gathered earlier this year for The Argus’s 135-year anniversary supplement:

When I joined The Argus back in 1964 it was another world.

I had a five-year apprenticeship ahead of me and for the first year my wages barely covered the cost of my train fare. And it’s thanks to my parents subbing me that I managed to get through that particularly lean time.
The big changes came during the 1970s when computers started to take over. Redundancy loomed and I was faced with the choice of leaving the industry or retraining as a journalist.

I had some experience writing the odd article for the paper but had no qualifications. I was 40 but I seized the opportunity to change direction and, after six months’ intensive training, I emerged with a distinction from college and was accepted into the newsroom. I put that down as my proudest moment.

One of my first reporting tasks was the second trial of Russell Bishop, the man acquitted of the “babes in the wood” murders. This time he was jailed for the attempted killing of a seven-year-old girl. I remember waiting for the jury to return its verdict and the cheers that greeted the guilty verdict.

One of the oddest stories was the case of Miss Whiplash. I was working late one night when she phoned in and promised to reveal the names of politicians who had used her colleagues’ services if I would meet her at a hotel the following afternoon. She never showed up so I slid a note, asking her to contact me, under her door.

Then she was reported missing and stories about her being bumped off started to circulate.

Suddenly, along with the police, what seemed like the entire world’s media wanted to talk to me. It all happened just before I was due to go on a six-week holiday to Australia. My last comment before I left was: “If she turns up in Australia, I’m going to have some explaining to do.”

And of course she did turn up in Australia. It had all been a publicity hoax. I was glad she was unharmed - something I never doubted for a second.