A well-known sportsman and Sandown business owner has died at the age of 78.

Graham Hilton Bastiani was born on September 7, 1943, at 3 Married Quarters, the Barracks Sandown.

He was the youngest child of Gerald and Freda Bastiani, and had two older brothers, Colin and Brian, and a sister Veronica.

His father was caretaker of the Barracks and his mother a dinner lady at the Broadway School, where the family all started their education.

Graham then went to Fairway Secondary Modern School, but was not academically minded.

After leaving school he started work at Frank Cheverton's Garage in Newport; he then worked for Gould, Hibbard and Randall selling soft drinks and after passing his driving test he became a van salesman for Scribbans Kemp Bakeries.

Isle of Wight County Press: Graham Bastiani.Graham Bastiani.

He met his future wife, Rose, in 1962 and they were married in 1965 and set up home in a small cottage in Brading High Street.

Graham's real ambition was to have his own shop and in 1967 he acquired the lease to a fruit and veg shop in Fitzroy Street, Sandown and branched out into selling pet food and accessories.

Graham was the father of three children, Greta, Gavin and Abigail, and the family moved to a house opposite his shop in Sandown.

In 1983 they built their own shop 'Graham's' alongside their house, where they stayed for another 20 years.

He also delivered newspapers and carried on doing this into his retirement till he was 69 years old.

Graham loved sport — He was a junior member at Shanklin-Sandown Golf Club, played table tennis for Sandown in the IW League.

He was a very keen football fan too, supporting Portsmouth.

He played in the Lake Working Men's and Portsmouth Supporters teams, managed Newchurch FC for one season and helped out at Sandown FC.

Graham retired just before he was 60 and he and Rose sold their house and shop and moved to Shanklin

In retirement, he walked many footpaths on the Isle of Wight, taking photographs of the beautiful countryside, until ill health took over .

He saw his daughters happily married, they gave him two grandchildren, and his son graduate from Keele University.