THE funeral took place this week for a well-known Durham doctor and charity champion who died shortly after his wife last week.

Dr John Jeremy Slowe died last Wednesday aged 89, just five days after the death of his 77-year-old wife Dorothea.

A funeral service was held for Dr Stowe at Durham Crematorium on Tuesday, four days after his wife's funeral at St Mary's Church, Shincliffe.

The former consultant anaesthetist retired from Dryburn Hospital in September 1979, living until recently in a farmhouse in Shincliffe.

During his retirement he became a leading figure in the fundraising drive for Macmillan Cancer Relief in the Durham area.

He became chairman of the charity's Durham committee in 1979, being made president in 1990, and was instrumental in the first two Macmillan nurses being employed in the health service in the county.

In June 1991 he was presented with Macmillan Cancer Relief's highest accolade, the President's Award, for his work with the charity.

The charity's northern region director, Maureen Parsons, paid tribute to the dedicated fundraiser.

She said: "The Macmillan nurses he helped put into post will have given help and support to hundreds of local people living with cancer over the years, and will continue to do so in the future.

"Macmillan and many local people have much for which to thank Dr Stowe."