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Former Haverhill Town Mayor and councillor Aldine Horrigan has paid tribute to her late husband Tom, who died after a long battle against illness.

Mrs Horrigan, who represented the town on St Edmundsbury Borough Council for 17 years, said her husband of 43 years had died last week at Eastcotts Nursing Home, Calford Green, near Kedington. He became ill in 1997 and was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 1999.

Mrs Horrigan cared for him at home until his condition deteriorated last year and he moved to Eastcotts.

“We had really been losing him for some time. It is a terrible thing, in the end we could not understand what he wanted or what he was saying. He was so supportive of me on my council work and of the community,” Mrs Horrigan said.

The couple moved to Haverhill in 1964, after meeting in the United States, where they both worked for General Motors in Detroit. Mr Horrigan was a US citizen, although born in the UK, but was persuaded to come back to Britain with his wife, who wanted to be nearer her family.

Mr Horrigan, was a director of Parkway Metalcraft in Haverhill for 20 years, but the company went into receivership during the recession in 1986.

Mr and Mrs Horrigan were both involved for some time with the Haverhill Youth Training Scheme, but the retired in 1993.

The funeral service was held at St Mary’s Church in Haverhill on Tuesday.