A husband has paid a moving tribute to his popular wife and former William Harvey Hospital receptionist who has lost her lengthy battle with cancer.

Bill Carr, 66, would have celebrated the 45th anniversary of marriage with wife Janet last month, but she died aged 61 on November 5 after suffering with myeloma cancer for eight years.

She had been a stalwart at the hospital for decades, first working as a cleaner, then as an auxiliary nurse in the baby department, before serving as a receptionist in the Maxillofacial Department before retirement.

Hundreds of friends and relatives gathered at Charing Crematorium for her funeral, with one of her granddaughters reading a moving eulogy.

Mr Carr said he had met Janet at a nightclub in 1969 when he had bought her a drink and then offered her his coat in the rain.

He said: “It has been really hard. She was such a lovely lady who always had a smile on her face. She loved working at the hospital and she had lots of friends there.

“She always welcomed people who started working there, and everyone liked her. She was a family person and loved to have parties.

“We would have big parties at our home and had family from London and Essex coming to visit.”

He said that together they loved to go on holidays, and had been away to Cyprus with their son and daughter before she died.

They had three children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren who Janet loved dearly.

Together Janet and Bill went through the tragedy of losing their daughter Paula to a hypoglycaemic attack in April 1988, just two months short of her 13th birthday.

It led to the creation of a new diabetes charity called the Paula Carr Trust, an independent charity which supports thousands of sufferers in Kent and Medway every year.

Trust chairman Gary Fagg said it was a tremendous loss for a personal friend.

He said: “She came to all the public events we did with her husband Billy. They were very supportive of us.

“She was always a very bubbly and lively person. She had a fantastic smile on her face which always cheered us all up. She was a lovely lady and friend.”

In the November edition of Trust News Consultant Orthodontist Fran Coutts, who works at The William Harvey Hospital Maxillofacial Department, said Janet’s smile and friendship will always be remembered.

She wrote: “For many years she was the glue that held the department together, a friend and shoulder to cry on.

“On a personal note, hers was the first face I saw when looking at my post in 1992 and it was her friendly face that greeted me again on my first day.

She became a close friend and I will miss her greatly. We send our thoughts and condolences to her family.”