THE funeral of a popular doctor will be held next week.

North Yorkshire GP Martin Mowbray died suddenly in hospital last Sunday, aged 58.

He leaves a widow, Margaret - also a GP - daughters Alison and Catherine, and son John.

Dr Mowbray was born in Lincolnshire but met his wife while training in Newcastle. Graduating together, they went on to practise in Hexham and Gateshead before moving to Leicestershire after they were married.

However, after their first two children were born, the couple returned north, settling in Aldbrough St John, between Darlington and Richmond, in the 1970s, where they stayed for 20 years, working at the Bridge House surgery.

They moved to Richmond in 1991, retiring together as GPs eight years later.

Dr Mowbray continued working as a locum in Darlington and had recently taken a contract for regular surgeries. His wife works as a school nurse.

Dr Mowbray was a keen sportsman, playing tennis and following athletics and rowing as a spectator.

Perhaps one of his proudest moments was watching daughter Alison compete in rowing events at the Olympics, in Sydney, in 2000.

The funeral service will be held at the Church of St John the Baptist, at Stanwick, at noon on Tuesday, followed by interment in the churchyard.