A mother has paid tribute to her selfless son who would “help anyone” after he died two weeks before Christmas.
Sean Mills, 45, died at his flat in John Swain Close, Needham Market, on Thursday.
Initially police said his death was “unexplained”, after he had been found with serious injuries, but they have since said that it is not being treated as suspicious.
Mr Mills, who had battled alcoholism for several years, had a son Jake, 20, a brother, Paul and a sister Tracey. He also leaves his girlfriend Jacqui Court.
His mother, Maureen, 69, of Ipswich Road, Needham Market, had spoken to her son just hours before he died, saying he was excited to be going to see his brother and family for Christmas.
She said: “I have not accepted that he has gone, I still think that he is up the street, I cannot come to terms with it. I’m hoping to get through Christmas with the children, we have got them to think about.
“Everybody loved him, he loved children; he would do anything for anybody. I do not think anybody in this town has a bad word to say against him.”
She said he was especially fond of his brother Paul and his wife Kelly’s twin 13-year-old boys, Bradley and Charlie and older brother Joshua, 17.
Jake Mills said: “The way we are all going to remember dad is the special family barbecues we had in the summer where we all played cricket and football.
“One day I hope to be like my dad with carpentry and joinery. He was such a perfectionist and I would like to follow in his footsteps.
“I’m going to miss playing golf with him and him telling me where I was going wrong.”
Sean received help from the Bury St Edmunds’ rehabilitation centre Focus 12 before he went on to be alcohol free for five years. But in 2010 his father Keith died – an event which Mrs Mills believes triggered Sean to seek refugee with alcohol again.
She said that in recent years he visited the Yeldall Manor rehab centre in Reading and was doing well until his half-brother Michael, 58, died in July this year following a heart attack.
Sean not only had to battle alcohol but also had the rare condition, sarcoidosis, which causes small patches of red and swollen tissue to develop in the organs of the body.
In the past he had been self-employed as a wood-worker, skilled in building kitchens and working on roofs.
Mrs Mills said: “All his colleagues said that they would work with him any day because they never had to put anything right, he was an excellent worker and started as an antique restorer. He was a perfectionist.”
No date has yet been announced for an inquest which is due to take place.
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