Former mayor of St Ives Pru Pegram has died after a short illness, just three months after her husband Reg to whom she had been married for more than 70 years.

The Hunts Post: Pru Pegram in the WAAFPru Pegram in the WAAF (Image: Archant)

Mrs Pegram arrived in St Ives in 1973 with Reg, who founded the Town Crier newspaper, and soon became a well-known figure in the community, serving as mayor in 1986.

Her journey to Huntingdonshire started much earlier and many thousands of miles away when she was born on the British dependency of St Helena, a tiny island in the South Atlantic with a populations of fewer than 5,000 people.

She came to England in 1945 to serve in the WAAF at RAF Brampton before moving to Hertfordshire where she married Reg.

Daughter Angela Curtis said: “She became a highly regarded local resident and an enthusiastic participant in the affairs of the town as a town councillor and long-standing governor of St Ivo School as well as some of the town’s primary schools.

The Hunts Post: Pru Pegram and husband RegPru Pegram and husband Reg (Image: Archant)

“She was president of St Ives Chamber of Commerce, chairman and president of numerous other bodies across Cambridgeshire and president of the St Ives branch of the women’s section of the British Legion and, briefly, president of its Huntingdonshire county division.”

Mrs Curtis said her mother took an active role in the family business and, after it was sold, took on the role of mayor of St Ives.

“Always well-groomed and immaculately turned out, Pru was proud of her heritage on the island to which Napoleon was finally exiled after his defeat at Waterloo and which boasted a proud history as an important, but little-known, part of Great Britain,” she said.

Mrs Pegram is survived by children Roy Pegram, Cathy Milton and Angela Curtis, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, a sister, Ivy, and many nieces and nephews, some still on St Helena and others in the UK and around the world.

After retiring in 1985, Mrs Pegram and her husband enjoyed spending time on their boat and travelling in their motorhome.

Mrs Pegram had been an active member of St Ives parish church and was a committed Christian. Her funeral will take place at the church at 11.30am on March 7.