Two members of a well-known Abergavenny family have died recently.

Paul French, 78, passed away at his home in Cushendun, Northern Ireland and his sister, Pat Verkuylen, died in Sydney where had she lived for many years. She was 76.

Both were former pupils of King Henry VIII school.

Pat’s long nursing career started at Nevill Hall in Abergavenny and she completed her training in Newport and went on to become a private nurse in London.

When she was in her early twenties she travelled to Australia. She met her husband Marius Verkuylen, a Dutch civil engineer, on a prawn trawler in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

They were married in Australia in 1975 and spent time in New Zealand, South Africa and the Netherlands before finally settling in Australia in 1983.

The couple lived in Sydney where they brought up their children, Richard and Georgia.

Pat worked at Ryde Hospital and was acting deputy nursing director. She also gained a university degree in management

After leaving school, Paul went first to a teacher training college in Worcester and then moved to Northern Ireland.

At the University of Ulster, he added a degree and a masters to his CV and after a brief spell teaching, he became a senior administrator in the Northern Ireland education board.

He was a skilled horticulturalist and became a well-known judge in best kept village schemes. He was also a skilled deep sea diver.

He leaves a partner, Rita, his children Karen and Martin and a grandson, Connor.

Pat leaves her husband Marius, their children Richard and Georgia. There are two grandchildren, Martin and Bowie.

The remaining members of the family are Desmond, a retired radio officer who for many years he owned Card’n’Wool in the High Street where his mother, Vieva, was a well-known fixture.

The shop was on the corner of Frogmore Street and Lion Street next door to the Sugar Loaf pub and closed in the late 80s when Cibi Walk was built.

Edward (Paddy) is a journalist and worked on the Abergavenny Chronicle before editing the magazine Rebecca.