'Remarkable, very energetic and still full of life' - Harborough woman is gearing up to celebrate her 100th birthday

A woman who was married in Market Harborough and spent almost 40 years locally is gearing up to celebrate her 100th birthday.

Irene White (nee Baker) wed her soldier sweetheart Cyril at the town’s iconic St Dionysius Church on June 15, 1940 – nine months after the Second World War broke out.

And the devoted couple never looked back as they went on to have two daughters, three grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren as they were married for a staggering 70 years.

“My mum is a very remarkable old lady.

“She can still hold a very good conversation, she’s mobile and she’s in excellent spirits,” said her proud daughter Jill White.

“Mum’s still a very energetic person and still full of life.

“She now lives at a nursing home in Peel on the Isle of Man.

“I wish that she was living here with me at my home in Bristol.

“But I’ve set up a birthday party for her to remember at her home on Tuesday December 8.

“Mum will have relatives and friends there while the governor of the Isle of Man is also going along to congratulate her.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

“But I will be Skyping my greetings and best wishes to my very dear mum, an extremely special woman.”

After moving in to Harborough as a young woman, Irene worked as a cook for Col John Hignett at East Langton Hall until she met dashing and debonair Cyril, an apprenticed painter and decorator.

The couple quickly fell head over heels in love with each other and were married 80 years ago - just a few months after Cyril joined the Royal Artillery.

The newly-wed gunner saw service battling Nazi Germany’s formidable Afrika Korps in North Africa before fighting communist guerrillas in Greece after the Second World War ended in Europe in May 1945.

Battle-hardened veteran Cyril didn’t finally return home to be reunited with his wife and two young children until 1947.

“I was born in 1942 and my sister Angela in 1948.

“When my father was eventually demobbed from the Army my parents’ married life really began at 12 Logan Street, Market Harborough.

“My father, my sister and I were all born and educated in Market Harborough,” said Jill, who went on to become a leading opera singer before carving out a star-studded career at the BBC.

“My parents set up a high quality painting and decorating business soon after the war.

“In the late 1950s they expanded their business by opening a retail shop at 22 Coventry Road, Market Harborough.

“My father was so skilled that he decorated many of the great houses around Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, including Althorpe - Princess Diana's childhood home.

“They lived in Market Harborough until moving to the Isle of Man in 1973 following my sister and their grandchildren.

“Cyril died in 2010 – just two months after my parents celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

“Angela, my younger sister, died in 2009.

“I now live in Bristol.

“I ended my career as director of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain after a 21-year career in the BBC,” said Jill, who said her mum still has a nephew and two nieces living in the Market Harborough area.

“When I left the BBC I was the Senior Music Producer for Radio 3 in charge of South and South West Classical Output.

“My career began as an opera singer here in the UK and in Austria.

“Both my mum and dad are still very fondly remembered in Market Harborough and I maintain a close connection with St Dionysius Church.”