It was the event that pulled a community together and fulfilled a great-grandmother’s dying wish.

Family, friends and businesses rallied around to enable Janet Priest to renew her wedding vows just weeks after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

But on Thursday the 63-year-old from Greater Leys died at the John Radcliffe Hospital before completing the ‘bucket list’ of last requests she and her family had drawn up.

Mrs Priest and husband Terry were able to renew their vows at SS Mary and Nicholas Church in Littlemore on July 20, but her health deteriorated after the ceremony.

Her son Jason said: “There are some great memories from the day. It pulled everybody together, which is a tribute to mum.

“Anyone involved in that day we didn’t know before has become a family friend.

“Unfortunately she got sick almost straight after the wedding. The three to six months we thought we had left with her turned out to be seven weeks from diagnosis. It all happened far too quickly.

“We just know that this day gave her something special to look forward to. From the next day onwards she wasn’t the same. We felt she just held on to make it such a special day, and I think it took every ounce of her strength.

“It was a brilliant day and the pictures are amazing. People still talk about it. The amount of people in Oxfordshire who have followed her story is incredible.”

After being told she had inoperable liver cancer, Mrs Priest wrote down a selection of wishes named after the 2007 Jack Nicholson film The Bucket List.

Alongside the wedding, she managed to spend a night at the Malmaison Hotel at Oxford Castle, hold a Robert Thompson wood carving and sing along to Irish songs.

The former Northway Secondary School pupil, whose maiden name was Hall, was unable to visit her childhood holiday destination of Canvey Island or see the Blackpool Illuminations, but her family have vowed to take her ashes to both locations.

Describing his mum, who was passionate about pub quizzes and had a love of rabbits, Jason said: “She was a friendly, very welcoming, very happy lady. Everyone she met was instantly welcomed and liked. She didn’t cross swords with anybody.

“Every Sunday she decided it was an open-house day for family and friends. You didn’t have to ring in advance. You could turn up on the day and you could have 20 or 30 people enjoying a selection of food.

“That’s the life that mum ran. She didn’t ever look out for herself. Making other people happy was what made her happy.”

A service for Mrs Priest will be held at SS Mary and Nicholas Church at 1pm on Wednesday, August 24 before moving to Oxford Crematorium.

Any donations, which will be used to create a lasting memorial, are welcome through S & R Childs on 01865 714007.