IT WAS just as Wayne Barrett was excitedly building a future for himself in Ipswich that his life was cruelly taken away.The father-of-four was moving home to Suffolk from London and had big plans for his return to the town where he grew up.

IT WAS just as Wayne Barrett was excitedly building a future for himself in Ipswich that his life was cruelly taken away.

The father-of-four was moving home to Suffolk from London and had big plans for his return to the town where he grew up.

But at the age of 38 he collapsed and died while at his parents' Stratford Road home.

Today his mother Megeita Barrett, who works at a residential home in Crabbe Street spoke of the family's shock at her son's sudden death from a heart attack on March 21. He was found to have an enlarged heart.

Mrs Barrett said: “He had spent a lot of time at home recently and we were all getting used to having him back with us in Ipswich.

“He wanted to settle here. He was due to move home this month and his new life was about to start.”

Mr Barrett had suffered with ill health. He had arthritis in his knees and had mobility problems. It was expected he would eventually need a wheelchair.

Mrs Barrett said: “He was leaving his job in London because of his knees. He wanted to own his own flat here and go back to college to do a computing course and look at becoming a lecturer.”

She told how her son would have made a good teacher and he was hoping that when his walking improved he could go to South Africa and teach.

Mrs Barrett added: “He was always saying he wanted us to be proud and we were in so many ways. He was gentle, considerate, and always trying to please people.

“We have been looking through old photographs and can't find a single serious one - he had been making people laugh ever since he was young.”

Mr Barrett moved with his mother to Ipswich in 1971 and attended Priory Heath, Thurleston High School and Westbourne Sixth Form.

He trained at college in Birmingham and spent his career as a sound engineer for the BBC. Since separating from his wife he had been living in East Ham.

Jimmy Henderson, Mr Barrett's stepfather, said: “He was very bubbly and spirited and always thinking of making others happy.

“He worked very hard since he knuckled down at college and we were very proud of him.”

On the day he died he was at home with his sister Camille Henderson. He complained of feeling unwell and went to the bathroom where he collapsed and died.

He had two brothers, Peter Barrett and Alvin Henderson, and three other sisters - Patricia and Paulette Barrett and Louanne Henderson.

His four children, living in London, are Wayne (known as Junior), 13, Hannah, eight, Rebecca, six, and Joseph, three.

A funeral for Mr Barrett is being held at Whitton Baptist Church on Wednesday at 10am, followed by a burial at the Millennium Cemetery.

Would you like to pay tribute to Mr Barrett? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk