JUNE Hall, who ran a popular shop in Cowley for 40 years, has died at the age of 84 after battling cancer.

Mrs Hall ran the shop in Gaisford Road with her husband John, becoming what many described as a pillar of the community.

The shop, known as John Hall’s, which they ran between 1958 and 1998, sold fruit, veg, fish plants and exotic birds.

While her husband made deliveries, Mrs Hall would run the shop, often welcoming customers with a cuppa.

Her daughter Susan Aldridge, from Dudgeon Drive, Littlemore said: “She was very proud of the shop but she would never boast about anything.

“She always found it very difficult when people piled praise on her but people would go to the shop because they knew my mother would give them a cup of tea and listen.

“My mother was a bit like a social worker.”

Mrs Hall, whose maiden name was Preston, was born in Headington on January 5, 1927, with her twin brother Peter.

After moving between Toot Baldon and Sandford with her family, she left school aged 14 and worked in the laundry in Littlemore, where she met John, a sailor.

Mrs Aldridge said: “I think my mother got a bit fed up with country life. She really enjoyed dancing and she used to go off and do that.”

Mr Hall, who she married in 1947, died five years ago at the age of 82.

Mrs Hall, who died on November 30, gave up her job to look after their child. Mrs Aldridge said: “My father started a round delivering food and it gradually built up.”

They bought the shop in Gaisford Road and lived above it.

Mrs Hall’s funeral was on December 13 in Littlemore.

She is survived by her brother, her younger sister Geraldine, daughter Susan, grandson Simon, and great grandchildren Gabriel and Alexandra.