A loyal companion, avid embroiderer, churchgoer and dancer in her day has died, writes Anthony Cornish.

Rose Griffiths, 84, died peacefully at Amy Woodgate Resource Centre care home in Nigel Fisher Way, Chessington, on July 31.

Mrs Griffiths was born in Chessington in 1931, and attended what was then known as Moor Lane School alongside British singer Petula Clark.

In 1944, she met her husband Fred Griffiths at a Kingston dancing school. They spent the next 70 years together.

Mr Griffiths said: “I remember the day we met as clear as ever. It was at the Kyle Brian School of dancing where Lidl in Kingston is now. This was back in 1944, the year of the blackout.

“That evening, there were three girls – Rose, Betty and Pam – and two boys – me and Bill. Pam married somebody else, Bill married Betty, and I married Rose.”

The couple were married in 1953 at St Mary’s Church in Church Lane, Chessington, where their two children, Neil and Carol, were also christened and later married.

Mrs Griffiths enjoyed dancing and was a hardworking, independent lady all her life, her husband said.

She spent her last two years in care where she had many friends and would be visited daily by her husband and by their children.

Stewart Hilton, a careworker at Amy Woodgate, said: “From the pictures on the wall in her room you could tell that Rose and Fred had had quite a life together.

“It’s quiet without her here because she used to enjoy walking around a lot. Rose was a very sweet lady who many were fond of. She was very strong willed and loved her husband.”

The funeral service was held at St Mary’s Church on Wednesday, August 19.