Wife pays tribute to '˜wonderful' soul-mate after his death aged 37

Christopher Perry, 37, of Wuppertal Court, Jarrow, who was featured in the Gazette in October after his mobility scooter was stolen, passed away earlier this month.

His death came less than two months after he renewed his wedding vows with wife Lisa at Jarrow Civic Hall.

Lisa has been married to Christopher for seven years and with him for 10.

She said: “I’m very glad we were able to do the renewal, because that was one of the last things Chris was able to do.

“He wasn’t able to get out of the house after that, but we created such a lovely memory on that day.

“The decade I had with Chris were the best 10 years of my life.

“He was somebody who was always smiling, and will be a massive void in all of our lives. He was a wonderful man.”

As well as Lisa, Christopher leaves behind step-son Jordan, 18, and a large number of family and friends. Lisa is originally from Oldham, Lancashire, and the pair met while Christopher was visiting friends in Manchester.

She added: “I met Chris through a friend. He came to Manchester to see his friends, and my friend told me to come along. I warned them not to set us up.

“We hit it off straightaway, though, and he moved down to Oldham to be with me, before we moved up here two years ago.”

Christopher’s funeral is taking place tomorrow at South Shields Crematorium, on John Reid Road, South Shields, from 1pm, with all welcome to attend.

Mourners will then retire to Alberta Social Club, in Railway Street, Jarrow.

The funeral is to have a Christmas theme because of how much Christopher loved the festive period.

Lisa added: “Chris loved this time of year, so his funeral is going to have a Christmas theme.

“People will be wearing Christmas jumpers and things like that. He planned his funeral completely, from the songs he wanted to who he wanted to carry the coffin. That made things a lot easier for us.

“He asked for no suits, and no dark colours at his funeral. He just wanted it to be nice and bright, which is just the kind of person he was.”

Chris worked for Tesco, and stores in the area have held fundraisers recently to help raise funds for his funeral. An online fundraising page in his honour – which can be found at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/chrisperryfundraiser – has so far raised almost £3,000.