A MAN has paid tribute to his wife who died after 72 years of marriage.

“It was always and forever, with me and Mary,” said David Haughney, as he remembered his wife Mary, who died on November 28, 2019, aged 94.

Mary was born on September 8, 1925 in Woking, before moving to Aldershot when she was a toddler.

The couple had met aged 14 at the Aldershot Youth Centre in 1940, and were married eight years later on October 23 at St Joseph's Church, Aldershot – celebrating their platinum anniversary in 2018.

The couple had three children –Paula, Teresa and Michael, who passed away in 2010 –as well as being grandparents to six grandchildren.

The family lived in Aldershot from 1968 to 1993, before moving and settling in Farnham.

David remembered how Mary and the children had a love for animals, and often “complained I was supporting two dozen legs”, describing how the family was also home to snakes, tortoises and mice.

Before settling down to start a family, Mary had worked as a telephonist in a post office opposite a utility company where David worked, before manning substations during the Second World War.

Describing Mary as “always very giving”, David told the Herald how she worked for many charities, having served as a Carmelite, spending ten years working with the Red Cross as a volunteer in Aldershot, as well as supporting CAFOD, a Catholic international development charity.

Mary was a lover of sport, with her school report describing how she left as “captain of netball, a member of the hockey team and represented the school and the borough in athletics”.

Her passion for sport continued also into her later life, having joined the Farnham Senior Sports Club aged 60 – and while David said his membership cards were “always stuffed in his wallet”, Mary kept hers in a pristine condition.

Looking back at Mary’s later years, David spoke of how she went to Manor Place Care Home in Aldershot for the last year of her life.

David said: “She was bedridden – but she still waved her finger at me.

“She looked after me for 70 years, and that is why I am 94 and still around.”

Mary’s funeral was held at St Joseph’s Church on January 8 – the same church where the couple were married 72 years ago.

Speaking at the funeral, daughter Paula Haughney paid tribute to her mother.

“We’ll miss the bits of saved packaging to turn into art – and the best roast potatoes.”