A MEMORIAL service is due to be held for a long-serving North East doctor.
Those who knew Dr Tony Shaw, from Darlington, are invited to pay their respects at a service on Sunday.
The well-known GP died on April 28, 2020, but due to lockdown restrictions his family was only able to hold a funeral with 10 people in attendance.
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His family have now decided to hold a memorial service to allow the wider community to say farewell to him.
Dr Shaw, who died aged 66 following a battle with cancer had been a GP at Darlington's Moorlands Surgery for 37 years.
He is survived by wife Fiona and daughters Harriet and Emily.
Mrs Shaw said: "I still get patients stopping me in the supermarket and asking me about a memorial service.
"With Covid it has been difficult but I felt it was right to have something because there was only 10 at the funeral.
"It will be nice to do this for him.
"We still feel like we haven't had a proper send-off."
Read more: Tributes to long-serving Darlington GP, Dr Tony Shaw
Originally from Liverpool, he moved to the town as a newly qualified doctor and stayed at Moorlands Surgery throughout his career.
He met Fiona when she was working as a receptionist at the surgery and they were married for almost 28 years.
Following his death in 2020, tributes were paid to Dr Shaw as a much-loved, kind and cheerful friend and as a knowledgeable and supportive colleague.
While few were able to attend his funeral in 2020, colleagues and patients from Moorlands Surgery turned out to line the street as a hearse carrying Dr Shaw passed by.
The memorial service will be held on Sunday, January 16, in All Saints' Church, Ravensdale Road, Darlington, at 12.30pm.
All those who knew Dr Shaw are welcome to attend, though people are asked to take a lateral flow test in advance and to wear a face covering.
The service will be followed by refreshments at Blackwell Grange Hotel.
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