“A bright light in my life for 53 years, a light that will never be rekindled.” That is how Bernard Bibby has described losing his wife Celia.

The 70-year-old died on January 10, after a three-year battle against skin cancer, at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham.

Mrs Bibby was a woman of many talents. She held a degree in psychology and criminal law from the University of Kent, which she gained in July 1983 while raising two children.

Six years later, she earned a masters degree in engineering ergonomics from Birmingham University.

She was also a qualified hypnotherapist and wrote articles in Italian and English on stress management.

In 1986 she started her own business, City Relaxation Consultancy, which saw her offering relaxation techniques for office workers, mainly in London.

Her methods were later put into a book entitled The Business of Learning to Relax.

She is also the author of Expert Witness.

In addition she spent many years raising money through open garden days, raffles and plant sales for various charities, most recently for Help for Heroes.

Born in the Elephant and Castle area of London on June 22, 1944, Celia attended Snowsfields Primary School and St Olave’s Grammar School where she achieved eight O-levels.

In 1962 she moved with her family to Falconwood.

It was at the tender age of 17 that she met Bernard at a youth club called The Green, Welling.

The couple went on to marry on April 3, 1964, in Bexley.

Two weeks after returning from their honeymoon in Jersey, they moved to a new one-bedroom bungalow in Middletune Avenue, Milton Regis.

When Mrs Bibby fell pregnant, she gave up her job as a secretary in the City and worked for Bowaters at its Kemsley mill site until she gave birth to daughter Elizabeth.

It was when they turned their thoughts to having their second child, David, that they decided to move to a three-bedroom house in Albany Road, Sittingbourne.

They lived there for 30 years until 2000, when they bought their home in Canterbury Road, Sittingbourne.

Mr Bibby, 70, said: “She laid back in bed and closed her eyes and turned the lights out.

“Only the Friday before, she was asking me to bring in the house accounts as she wanted to make sure everything was all right.

“In 2006 we renewed our wedding vows in Syracuse, Italy. The outfit she wore that day, a bright pink embroidered gown, is what she will be laid out in.

“Celia was a big bright light in my life. That light has now been extinguished and will never be rekindled.”

The funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.