For years Aubrey Wood supported the work of his wife, Jacqui Wood, as she headed a campaign to establish a cancer research and treatment centre at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
Jacqui raised £18 million over 20 years and the centre bearing her name opened at the hospital in 2013, two years after her death.
Now Aubrey, who continued his wife’s fundraising and public relations work after her death, has died aged 81.
The couple, who came to Dundee from England in 1985, helped the city build on its reputation for life sciences and motivated communities to join the battle against cancer.
Jacqui was tireless in her efforts to create the cancer centre. She would travel constantly to meet fundraisers and speak at events and Aubrey was her support.
Aubrey was born in the mining community of Awsworth, Derbyshire. His father wanted him to leave school at 14 and go to work down the mines.
After the intervention of his teacher, he managed to stay on for another year and started work with the electricity board at the age of 15.
Over the years he attended night school, enabling him to qualify as an electrical engineer in 1961 before completing a diploma in management studies and becoming a member of the Institute of Management.
Expertise
It was his management and consultancy experience that would later become invaluable to the various charities he was to became involved with.
After a move to Scunthorpe, he met Jacqui, who was a secretary in a building firm.
They married in 1966 and had two daughters, Sarah and Rachel.
From 1976 to 1981 he worked with a small team at the Electricity Council in London designing and developing a national job evaluation schemes for engineers.
Capital trips
Every Monday morning he drove down to London, always travelling back home on the Friday to be with his family.
His family regularly joined him in London at holiday times. Other family holidays were spent in their touring caravan at various locations in England and Scotland.
It was only relatively late in life that Aubrey and Jacqui discovered their love of foreign holidays. They enjoyed several cruises as a couple and also with their family and they both had a particular fondness for Madeira.
In the mid 1980s, Aubrey began work with the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board and the family moved into a home in Birkhill.
Jacqui became involved in voluntary work with Cancer Research, which eventually led to her heading the Ninewells Cancer Campaign.
Office bearer
Although he had always been involved in the background, after Jacqui’s death in 2011, Aubrey took on the role of vice-chairman of the Ninewells Cancer Campaign. He remained in this position until 2019.
Over the years, Aubrey was involved in a voluntary capacity with many charities. Apart from his work with the cancer campaign, Aubrey was a director of the Carolina House Trust and chairman of its finance committee.
He offered professional advice and help to a number of organisations including Advocating Together and Headway.
Public service
In addition, he was chairman of the Independent Review Panels for complaints about the health service in Tayside.
Aubrey was a Rotarian for more than 30 years and was a past president of Camperdown Rotary.
An advanced driver, Aubrey had a passion for Jaguar cars, motorcycle restoration and for several years he had been the owner of a classic Sunbeam Rapier car.
Until Covid hit, Aubrey was a volunteer driver for Contact the Elderly in Dundee and in recent years had attended Tayside Dance Club, tried his hand at yoga and developed an interest in theosophy.
A few years after Jacqui’s death, Aubrey was fortunate to get a second chance at love.
He met Fiona and they had a wonderful few years together before she died suddenly.
After quite a long time on his own, he met Sandra. He and Sandra provided support and companionship for each other, particularly during difficult Covid times and were together right up until he died.
Handiwork
Aubrey was a very practical man and could turn his hand to anything, be it woodwork, rewiring or even bricklaying: he single-handedly added an extension to the family home in Scunthorpe.
Above all, Aubrey was a devoted and loving husband, dad and grandad and his family were his world. He will be sorely missed by them all.