Figures from across the North East have paid tribute to Laura Milburn, who is understood to have died at the age of 94.
Felton-based Laura had three children with the legendary Newcastle United striker Jackie Milburn and was married to him for forty years - and on Friday son Jack paid tribute to an "incredibly strong woman". He told ChronicleLive how his mother had kept active throughout her life, even captaining Morpeth golf club twice.
In her latter years, Laura had suffered with dementia, and after living for a time with Jack and his wife in Bamburgh, had moved into a care home in Berwick. She died on Friday morning.
Read more: Wor Jackie remembered: Laura Milburn tells of life with Jackie
Jack said: "It's still very raw. She was in a lovely place in Berwick, a really wonderful place with great people. She was a very, very proud woman. She fought quite the battle to the finish.
"Her favourite tune was the song used at Newcastle - Local Hero. That's because the town in the film Local Hero was where she was evacuated to during the war. She was such a strong woman and lived her life to the full. She never stood back and always wanted to be out doing things."
Jack said she had been a competitive woman, who loved winning, not least on the golf course where she defied gender stereotypes to captain the Morpeth club twice..
And he also recounted how he wondered if her wartime experiences gave her the fortitude to live such a long life - and outlive "all of those fit and strong blokes from the '50s cup teams" her husband played alongside. He added: "She was pushed into a doorway where [she was during the war] and a bomb hit just outside, she was very lucky."
Laura was born in Glasgow but moved around the country in her youth, before meeting her husband that fateful day in 1948. He spotted her hanging Christmas decorations, and declared he would marry her. Within months, he had made good on the promise.
On Friday afternoon BBC Look North presenter Jeff Brown was among those to share his condolences on social media, as was Michael Martin, founder of the True Faith NUFC fanzine. Laura first met Jackie while she was working in a hotel "down south" and he was with the Newcastle team on a training week away.
She remembered their early courtship, speaking to ChronicleLive in 2013, she said: "They were there for a week training. I was up a ladder hanging the Christmas decorations in the hotel lobby when he walked in. He saw my legs and said that is the girl I’m going to marry."
Laura and Jackie married in 1948 and were together until his premature death in 1988. Mr Brown shared news of her death on Twitter. He said: "Sad to hear of the passing of Laura Milburn - widow of [NUFC] legend Jackie Milburn - at 94. Lovely lady, who outlived all the Cup winners of the ‘50s."
He also shared an image of her with son Jack Jr on the Quayside. Mr Martin added: "Sorry to hear of the death of Wor Jackie’s wife Laura Milburn. Feels like the definite end of an era. Sincere condolences to family and friends."
Laura and Jackie had three children - Linda, Betty and Jack - along with six grandchildren. In 1988, Jackie's funeral at St Nicholas' Cathedral in Newcastle saw 30,000 line the city's streets.
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