"His health was failing, but he was determined and resilient and wanted to see the Elvis movie on June 23," his daughter Lee told the Western Advocate on Thursday.

"But he passed away peacefully on Monday in his sleep."

Mr Barnes, who lived for 46 years in upper Howick Street, was a Bathurst identity known for his abiding love of The King.

He considered two of the highlights of his life as recording Presley's Wooden Heart and Judy at a studio in Eglinton and visiting Graceland in Tennessee with his daughter and was diligent in marking The King's passing each year.

'ELVIS' BARNES IN RECENT YEARS:

"He was happy-go-lucky, genuine," Ms Barnes said of her father. "And, basically, he just loved people. He loved entertaining people with song.

"He was kind-hearted, loved to have a talk and loved to make people laugh."

Born on January 3, 1944 at Scone, Mr Barnes moved to Millthorpe when he was two, then to Orange, then to Bathurst.

He worked as a pasteuriser at the old Dairy Farmers site and, after decades in Howick Street, lived the past few years at Whiddon Kelso.

"His room [at Whiddon] was devoted to Elvis and all the nurses knew him as Elvis," Ms Barnes said.

She said her father's best friend Ernie Wright had recently told her about the first time her father saw The King.

"Dad would have been 14," she said. "He and his best friend went to the Bathurst theatre to see Jailhouse Rock and, from that moment, Ernie said, when they came out of that movie theatre, that's when Dad was a true Elvis fan.

"He was a good Catholic boy, but Elvis became number one."