Thornhill Lees shopkeeper Mary Heppenstall remembered

They moved to Dewsbury in the early 1960s with their two children, Roy and ‘little’ Mary, and opened a grocer’s, Heppenstall’s, in Leeds Road.

In 1966, Mrs Heppenstall moved her shop to Lees Hall Road in Thornhill Lees and picked up custom from the local factories.

“People used to come from miles around for her breakfast sandwiches,” her daughter, Mary Martin, said.

Mrs Heppenstall retired in 1987 and she and her husband moved to Thorne, near Doncaster. Mr Heppenstall died in 1992 and Mrs Heppenstall moved back to Dewsbury four years later.

She was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and moved to Ashworth Grange Care Home, Dewsbury. She died on April 23, two days after moving into Linson Court Nursing Home, Batley.

Her funeral was hled at Dewsbury Crematorium on Friday. A wake was held at Ponderosa in Heckmondwike.