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Last word from Gazette stalwart Ruby, 95
A PROLIFIC poet and much-loved Gazette letter writer has died at the age of 95.
Ruby Hartley passed away peacefully this week at Gerald Street residential care home in South Shields after a short battle with cancer.
Her death marks the end of an era for the Gazette's Letters Page, to which, over a 30-year period, Mrs Hartley submitted hundreds of handwritten letters and poems.
Impassioned, thoughtful but always filled with warmth, her missives are sure to be missed by our readers.
Today her cousin Jim Jenkins, 83, of Tracey Avenue, West Boldon, said: "She really enjoyed writing to the Gazette. It kept her
mind active, particularly when she was getting on a bit in years.
"Ruby was an independent woman who was very strong-willed. Her husband William died of tuberculosis in 1943.
"They had only been wed five years, and she never remarried, in fact I don't think she went out with anyone else after that. He was the love of her life.
"But she was happy with her own company and her letters and poems helped fill her time."
Mr Jenkins also revealed that Mrs Hartley's body has been donated to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle for medical research.
He added: "It's something she always wanted to do. Because of this, we will not be able to have a funeral service for a year."
Appropriately, Mrs Hartley's last letter to the Gazette, written just days before her death, was a tribute to her favourite newspaper.
It is hoped that a memorial service will be staged in the near future at Hedworth Lane Methodist Chapel in Boldon Colliery.
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Weather for South Shields
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -2 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South
