7:00pm Saturday 14th July 2007
By Gavin Havery
A WOMAN who ran a North-East petrol station for almost 30 years has died, aged 100.
Beth Driver, who ran the Rose Tree Filling Station alongside the River Wear Bridge on the A177 in Shincliffe from 1935 to 1963, passed away peacefully at the Hallgarth Nursing Home, in Durham, on Tuesday, July 10.
Mrs Driver's son William said: "She was an amazing lady."
Mr Driver, who lives in Montreal, Canada, paid tribute to the work of staff at the nursing home, which had been his mother's home since 2001.
"It's been a thoroughly happy time for her," he said.
Mrs Driver was born in Browney Colliery. Her husband Walter died in 1940.
Coun Jeff Lodge, then the Mayor of Durham, visited Mrs Driver to share in her 100th birthday celebrations, in December 2006, presenting her with a bouquet and a congratulatory card.
Mrs Driver was a grandmother of three and great-grandmother of four.
Her funeral will be held at St Mary's Church, in Shincliffe, on Tuesday from 2.45pm.
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