A service of thanksgiving for BBC broadcaster Walter Love to take place in Belfast on Friday

The Jazz Club host died last Friday following a short illness aged 88.

He hosted Radio Ulster's ‘Day By Day’ and ‘Love in the Afternoon’ as well as presenting the Sunday staple ‘Love Forty’.

His final show, Jazz Club with Walter Love, was broadcast in 2023.

Presenter Ralph McLean paid tribute to his BBC Radio colleague as a “consummate broadcaster and a true gentleman”.

He said: “Walter Love was always great company. Funny, charming and always up for a laugh”.

Following his time as a freelance contributor to BBC radio in the 1950s, Mr Love secured a permanent post as a studio manager in London.

He spent ten years as a TV newsreader in Belfast before joining the team at Radio Ulster in 1978.

In 2014, Mr Love was inducted into the Phonographic Performance Ireland Radio Awards Hall of Fame, and he was awarded an MBE in 1997.

His relatives said he was "a dearly loved member of the Love family".

Following news of his death last week, BBC Talkback host William Crawley described Mr Love as “a pioneer, and a true gentleman, of radio,” and added: “Every broadcaster from Northern Ireland has a Walter Love story to tell, and every story communicates graciousness, kindness, decency, affection and respect. That’s as good a legacy as anyone could hope for.”

A notice on the funeraltimes.com website said Mr Love had died “peacefully,” describing him as the “dearly beloved husband of the late Mary, much loved brother of Daphne, Dick and the late Hugh and Brian Love, and a cherished uncle, friend and colleague”.

The notice added: “A Service of Thanksgiving will take place in St. Columba’s Parish Church, King’s Road, Belfast on Friday 2 February at 2pm.

“No flowers please, donations may be made in lieu if desired to Diabetes NI c/o Charles Rourke and Sons Funeral Directors, 51 Church Street, Downpatrick, BT30 6EH.”