A former WEST Belfast businessman will be remembered for his "energy that allowed his business to flourish."
Paddy McKillen (99) died peacefully at his adopted home in southern France this week surrounded by family and friends.
Born in Lucknow Street, in the Falls area of Belfast in 1924, he founded DC Exhausts, which began life on reclaimed marshland beside the Bog Meadows in Andersonstown.
FROM LITTLE ACORNS: DC Exhausts advertising in Andersonstown News in January 1980.
The family left Belfast for Dublin in 1972 to help build the business and to escape violence on the streets - but the business remained continued to trade and remains open to this day.
DC Exhausts expanded across Ireland before the family sold the business for a reported £25m in the 1990s.
Speaking to the Andersonstown News, Paddy's son, John said his father was proud of creating jobs during tough years of the 'Troubles' in West Belfast.
"In business, Paddy was most proud of the jobs he created," he said.
"Unemployment in West Belfast was among the worst in Europe. You simply didn't stand a chance if you were Catholic. Things could not have been more bleak for a young person born into this part of the world at that time. So to build DC Exhausts to the point where it employed 150 in Kennedy Way in Andersonstown in the sixties was remarkable for someone who came from such poverty."
The company was evicted from its first base by a new arrival.
"He opened his new state of the art Manufacturing Plant in Kennedy Way in August 1969, and it was one of the first buildings to be taken over by the British Army," recalls John. "That put a huge block to the progress of his business, as it did for many businesses across Northern Ireland.
"With nine young kids he and his wife Peggy made the decision to uproot the entire family and move to Dublin. A traumatic decision at the time, and very emotional, but they decided they had to do it for the safety of their young family. His business acumen continued in Dublin and with his energy his business flourished and he never looked back."
Paddy McKillen passed away at his home in Le Puy Sainte Reparade near Aix-en-Provence.
He was predeceased by his wife Peggy and survived by children, Mara, Mariad, Paddy, Colette, Anne, Monika, John, Catriona and Michaela, his sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family and friends in Belfast, Dublin, France and Los Angeles.
Requiem Mass will took place on Wednesday at Eglise Norte Dame de L'Assomption in Le Puy.
