MARY COPLAND-Griffiths (nee Fry) died peacefully on Thursday, September 29, aged 96, at The Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Mrs Copland-Griffiths was born on September 20, 1920 to Esmah and Harold Fry at their home in West Hoathly in Sussex.

Growing up, Mary spent time living at Wingfield House in Trowbridge, and at Bradenstoke Abbey, before moving to Lee in North Devon at the age of 15. Other than a short spell at Heathfield School, she was privately educated.

She had known Charles Copland-Griffiths since childhood, as they shared the same great-grandparents, and they married in 1944.

Charles joined the Navy, and during the Second World War Mrs Copland-Griffiths nursed the wounded, helping whoever she could, whatever nation or continent they hailed from.

The couple lived at Bramley Cottage in Wingfield and in 1946 welcomed their son Michael into the world, followed three years later by their daughter Alexandra.

During the height of the 1956 Suez Crisis, Commander and Mrs Copland-Griffiths opened their home to young Hungarian refugees from a camp in Westwood, finding them jobs in the area. As the boys were unable to return to Hungary, the Copland-Griffiths would travel to Hungary to give cards to the boys’ families.

The loving mother, and grandmother of two, was described as a tough, courageous woman with a balanced nature and a capacity for love and passion for everything she cared for.

As she grew older, with failing eyesight and poor hearing, she moved to Trowle House, where she made the most of the grounds with her walking frame.

Due to a deterioration in her physical health, she had recently required 24-hour care but still enjoyed spending time on the lawn watching the birds, and her grandchildren playing in the distance.

Mary will be buried alongside her husband Charles following a church service at St Mary’s in Wingfield on Thursday (October 13) at 1.30pm. The service will be family flowers only but donations can be made to Water Aid and the parish church of St Mary and may be forwarded to CS Bowyer Funeral Directors, The Bullpit, Bradford on Avon.