THE funeral of Daily Echo journalist and production chief Chris Parnell will take place on Friday.

Chris, who was head of multimedia production for Newsquest Dorset’s newspapers and magazines, died last week, aged 46.

He leaves a wife, Karen, and two daughters, Emily, 12, and Olivia, nine.

Chris had joined Newsquest’s predecessor company Southern Newspapers in 1995 and joined the Daily Echo in Bournemouth in 1998, becoming its chief sub-editor.

Since 2010, Chris had presided over all the company’s Dorset titles from Weymouth.

His funeral will take place at 3pm at Colehill Woodland Burial Ground, followed by a toast to celebrate his life at the Horns Inn opposite.

Flowers will be from family only.

Donations to the Poole Hospital Charity can be made via justgiving.com/chris parnell, or via a cheque to the funeral directors at Poole and Wimborne Woodland Ground, Greenhill Road, Colehill, Wimborne, BH21 2RG.