Mary was born on 31st May 1933 to John and Minnie Slater of Kingston, Nr Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Her Father John, was a miner from Church Lane Colliery and Mary was destined to spend most of her life in that area; growing up, going to school, working and marrying, all in the villages of Kingston and Dosworth, or ‘Dodeth’ as Tony pronounced with his wonderful accent. Mary had three brothers; Jack, Albert and Harold and two sisters, Kathleen and Jacqueline. Sadly only Jacqueline is here today, as Albert is unable to fly and the others have already passed on. When Tony met Mary, she was working as cashier at a tailors shop in the village and she walked by him up the hill to the bank one day. Tony told me that the thing that struck him about Mary was her legs – she had a nice pair of legs he thought, so he hung around in the street and when she came out of the bank, he pounced, and the rest is history - over fifty four years of history. They got married on the 26th June 1956 at St Edwards Church, Kingston and their wonderful adventure together started. After they married, Mary joined Tony in his work, which was that of a butcher and went on to learn the trade. ‘She were a good butcher too’, say’s Tony, and could do pretty much anything the male butchers could do. The only problem of working together was that Mary had a habit of using Tony’s knives – ‘You could tell she had used them said Tony… you get attached to your knives and how they cut, and every butcher sharpened them in a different way – I knew when she had used my knives. Mary was a Daddy’s girl and Tony can remember her at around 18 years of age, having a cuddle on her Dad’s lap. She would not suffer fools or lies, did not like any fuss, loved gardening, flower arranging, dogs and challenges in life… like looking after Tony. ‘She were the boss’ said Tony and each day she would say ‘we’ll do this and we’ll do that… and they did! Mary also cared very much for the underdog and would do anything she could to help people in need. When she was well into her 40’s, Mary did her NVQ’s in business management and went to work for a chain of hairdressers shops. She excelled at the job, winning many awards for her skills and abilities. She really related well with young people and that helped her succeed in the hairdressing business. Another challenge Mary took on was to obtain her H.G.V licence, also when she was in her 40’s – just because – well, just because Tony had his… and it was a challenge! Mary’s musical tastes included a French flavour with singers like Charles Asnavour and Edith Piaf. Mary was never into special occasions, but there was one day every year that had to be perfect and well prepared for… Christmas Day. The house had to be in order and food all prepared for the big day, even if she had to be up half the night on Christmas Eve, just getting things ready. She loved Christmas Day and friends round the house. Although Mary never involved herself in sports, she was a Liverpool Football Club supporter through and through and watched on TV any matches she could. Mary would always put extra food in the shopping trolley to give out to the needy in the area, she always had biscuits in her pockets to give to the local dogs as she and Tony went around the area on their evening strolls around Camposol. Tony said the she even gave away his best grey socks to a tramp… because his were worn out, and - that was the sort of person she was. Tony and Mary moved to Spain in 2004, after spending many holidays on the island on Menorca. They decided that it would be better to live on the Spanish mainland, so came to this area on a sightseeing trip and bought their home off plan…. That was a challenge in itself as many of you here today will know. They loved the adventure they had here together and enjoyed their many escapades, visiting places around this beautiful area of Spain, not knowing how they were going to get back home at the end of the day. They both liked their trips to the Espuna mountains and their breakfasts at the Monastery ; also their train rides to Lorca and other local places. What great memories Mary will leave in all your hearts as we celebrate her life here today. Mary, you met life’s challenges – head on – and won, - and today, you have challenged us all here celebrating your life, to do the same. God bless you Mary.